Situation not critical – KMG CEO on Kazakh oil tankers stuck in Bosphorus

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Chairman of the Board of JSC NC KazMunayGas Magzum Mirzagaliyev commented on the pile-up of oil tankers, including some from Kazakhstan, in the Bosphorus strait. According to him, the issue will be resolved in a day or two, Kazinform reports.

Earlier, mass media reported that oil tankers transporting oil from Kazakhstan got stuck in the Bosphorus strait in Türkiye. It became known that Türkiye does not allow more than 20 tankers carrying millions of barrels of oil crossing the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits.

«As per the information we received, there are about 8-10 Kazakh tankers there. Six tankers are carrying TCO (Tengizchevroil) oil. There is nothing critical in this situation. We have been transporting oil via the Bosphorus for many years. Our tankers have been staying there for 6 days, while in December such situations may last for 14 days,» Mirzagaliyev said answering journalists’ questions.

In his words, the Turkish side is requesting additional cargo insurance papers.

«All required documents have been submitted to the Turkish side. The dialogue continues. The problem occurred after December 5, when restrictions were imposed in regards to Russian oil,» he explained.

According to him, yesterday he discussed the issue with the Kazakh Foreign Minister and Turkish ambassador.

He said that the situation will not bring any loss to the economy of Kazakhstan. «The situation is not critical, but we began working in this area. We hope the situation will be normalized soon, and it will not affect our oil prices,» Mirzagaliyev added.

Photo: finance.yahoo.com