Ukrainian drone attack damages Caspian Pipeline
February 19, 2025
Ukraine launched a drone attack that damaged the Caspian Pipeline that handles crude oil from Kazakhstan. The drone attack damaged a pumping station, and the flows of crude oil are expected to be down 30 to 40% for a couple months. The estimated amount is roughly 400,000 bpd. Crude prices are slightly higher this morning on this news.
OPEC+ is supposed to bring more barrels to the market in April as part of its original plan, and confirmation is supposed to be upcoming in the next few days, but most traders think they will push this off to a future date. We already had one report that said they were debating whether to do this in April and then another conflicting report. All this will do is allow for more volatility in crude as this situation gets bantered around in the news.
The North Dakota Pipeline Authority said oil production was estimated to be down between 120,000 and 150,000 bpd of oil, as of Tuesday morning, due to recent extreme cold and related operations challenges.
US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, said his top priority was for the government to “get out of the way” of the production of oil, gas, and coal, adding that a number of approvals for gas projects were in the queue.