In a phone call on July 31, US Vice President JD Vance asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to stop strikes on oil tankers near the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in Novorossiysk, the Financial Times reported, citing Ukrainian and American officials.
The attacks targeted vessels carrying Kazakh oil, which raised concerns in Washington. According to the newspaper, eight tankers linked to the CPC terminal were hit in July, including a ship chartered by ExxonMobil on July 17. As a result, CPC loaded only 1.3 million barrels per day in July — more than 300,000 barrels less than in June and 600,000 less than in May, FT said, citing data from Kpler.
The US feared further destabilization of the oil market amid supply disruptions from the Middle East, the FT wrote. The attacks also affected American companies: Chevron owns 50% of Tengizchevroil, which develops the Kazakh Tengiz field, and ExxonMobil holds a 25% stake there plus 7.5% of CPC itself.
Kyiv agreed not to strike CPC infrastructure and non-Russian vessels, provided they are not under Ukrainian sanctions and do not carry Russian oil or other Russian cargo, according to FT. Since then, tankers at the terminal have not been attacked by Ukraine, the newspaper claimed.
One FT source linked the concession to Ukraine's efforts to obtain a US license to produce interceptor missiles for Patriot systems. Kyiv also hopes to buy several hundred such missiles before winter, when Russia is expected to intensify strikes on energy infrastructure.
Meanwhile, on the night of August 12, Novorossiysk came under a drone attack. Local authorities said a child was killed, eight people were injured, and four enterprises and more than two dozen residential buildings were damaged. Reuters reported that Russia's grain terminal suspended operations, and water supply was temporarily halted due to damage to a main pipeline.