Kazakhstan cut oil production in December by more than 200 Kb/d, with output averaging 1.522 million barrels per day in the final month down from 1.759 mb/d in November. December production was also significantly lower than the full-year average of 1.776 mb/d for 2025.
The lower production was attributed to the forced suspension of Single Point Mooring (SPM-3) following a drone attack coupled with adverse weather conditions that hit the Black Sea. Unidentified drones struck two oil tankers in the Black Sea, including one chartered by Chevron (NYSE:CVX), enroute to a terminal on the Russian coast. Kazakhstan authorities have urged U.S. and Europe to help secure the Black Sea route, which handles ~1% of global supply.
“The increasing frequency of such incidents highlights the growing risks to the functioning of international energy infrastructure,” the ministry said in a statement. “We therefore call upon our partners to engage in close cooperation to develop joint measures aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future,” it added.
Kazakhstan could see its oil production decline further after the country pledged massive compensation cuts. Kazakhstan has pledged to to significantly deepen itsOPEC+ oil output cuts to 669,000 barrels per day (bpd) by June 2026, up from its previous pledge of 131,000 bpd as part of a broader effort by four key producers to balance an oversupplied market and improve compliance with quotas.
This commitment accounts for the largest share of the collective 829,000 bpd reduction, aiming to offset previous overproduction and stabilize oil prices through the first half of 2026. Iraq pledged to maintain its cuts at 100,000 bpd; the UAE pledged to increase its cuts to 55,000 bpd from just 10,000 bpd while Oman will cut ~5,700 bpd through June.
Last month, OPEC+ paused the planned gradual return to the market of 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in oil output, keeping that volume off the market for the first quarter of 2026 (January, February, and March). The pause comes amid concerns of a potential global supply surplus and seasonal low demand in the winter.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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