The government in Astana announced that its crude oil exports to the European Union through the Druzhba pipeline will not restart by the close of 2026. Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov said the country possesses the technical capacity to resume the shipments, which have been halted for six months, but is awaiting a response from the Kremlin to authorize the move.
The extended halt follows a Ukrainian drone campaign targeting Russia’s Samara oil hub on Nov 2, which caused extensive fires at a Transneft pumping station and temporarily suspended the Atyrau-Samara pipeline. Kazakhstan shipped 42,000 barrels a day via the Druzhba route to Germany in 2025 and had planned to increase that to 60,000 barrels a day in 2026. All of Kazakhstan’s approximately 1.5 million barrels a day of total crude exports must transit through another nation, primarily Russia, China, or Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey.
