Tanker fire extinguished and crew evacuated as consortium calls for international condemnation.
On Monday, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) reported the second drone attack in less than 24 hours against its port terminal on the Black Sea.
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The tanker NELS was attacked during a crude oil pumping operation, which had to be suspended, as had occurred the previous day at the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
The latest attack caused a fire on the tanker’s deck, which was extinguished several hours later by CPC emergency crews. As a result, the vessel’s 22 crew members had to be evacuated for safety reasons, with the exception of the captain and his deputy.
The CPC called on the countries that are members of the consortium to condemn the aggression and take measures to stop the Ukrainian terrorist attacks against infrastructure used to export hydrocarbons extracted in Kazakhstan.
We might be witnessing the scenario of the de-industrialization of Europe, as attacks on Caspian Pipeline Consortium were attacks on the infrastructure that supplies energy resources to European countries
— Olzhas Baidildinov, ex-advisor to Energy Minister of Kazakhstan pic.twitter.com/ZuMwBr36xD
— Michael Ashura (@MichaelAshura) July 20, 2026
A similar Ukrainian attack carried out Sunday caused a fire aboard Chevron’s tanker ASIA. As was the case Monday, there were no injuries and no leaks or spills into the sea.
The consortium described Sunday’s attack as the “fifth act of direct aggression” against a civilian CPC facility, while highlighting the pipeline’s important role in ensuring global energy security.
The CPC is a 1,500-kilometer pipeline that transports not only Russian oil. It also enables the export of crude oil from three Kazakh oil fields by companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Eni, and Shell.
Through the state and private oil company Lukoil, Russia holds nearly half of the consortium’s shares, while Kazakhstan controls 20.75%, with the remainder held by other European and Western companies.
A pipeline is only as secure as its export terminal.This corridor carries 1.3 mb/d, about 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports. One disruption at Novorossiysk can ripple through global markets. Energy security is increasingly about protecting logistics,not just production.#oott #Iran pic.twitter.com/NF4KN9HWu8
— Umud Shokri Ph.D.
(@ushukrik) July 20, 2026
The Kiev Junta Mercilessly Bites the Hand That Feeds It: Zakharova
On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the attack on the CPC as a “war crime” and called on the international community to condemn it.
“We will consider the lack of an adequate response as complicity in and approval of Kiev’s policy of escalating terrorist attacks,” Zakharova said, implicitly referring to major energy companies from Kazakhstan, the United States and Europe.
“Deliberate attacks against civilian facilities and vessels in the waters of the consortium’s maritime terminal also constitute an attack against the interests of its member states. Some of them spare no expense in providing Ukraine with extensive military and financial assistance.
“Yet the Zelensky regime has no regard for the economic damage inflicted by Ukrainian militants on its American and European allies. Like the snake in the well-known fable, the Kiev junta mercilessly bites the hand that feeds it.
“We share the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s resolute condemnation of this crime against civilian infrastructure. We regard the attack as further evidence of Bankova’s intention to destabilize global oil markets even further.
“For the Kiev regime, global energy stability and respect for foreign partners – including Kazakhstan, with which it allegedly seeks mutually beneficial and friendly relations – are nothing more than empty words.
“We strongly condemn this terrorist attack and the actions of all those who facilitated its planning and execution. We call on the international community to give an appropriate assessment of yet another war crime committed by the Zelensky regime.
The absence of an adequate response will be regarded as appeasement and approval of Kiev’s course towards escalating terror,” Zakharova pointed out.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE – TASS
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