The United States has lifted sanctions on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), the primary conduit used by Kazakhstan to export its oil to international markets.
According to reports in the Kazakh media citing the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Washington has unblocked transactions related to the CPC as well as Kazakhstan’s largest oil fields, Tengiz and Karachaganak.
OFAC has issued a general license that specifically authorizes transactions tied to the CPC, Tengiz, and Karachaganak projects.
The license permits Russian energy companies that are currently on the US sanctions list—such as Lukoil and Rosneft—to engage in transactions, but only if they are strictly related to the Karachaganak and Tengiz oil fields or CPC projects.
The CPC pipeline is a critical infrastructure link transporting oil from Kazakhstan to Russia’s Novorossiysk port on the Black Sea for shipment to global markets. However, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and sanctions on Russian oil exports had previously disrupted operations, forcing Kazakhstan to seek alternative routes and agreements for its energy exports.
