JAPAN'S INPEX SUPPLIED OIL TO GERMANY FROM KASHAGAN

Japan's Inpex for the first time last month supplied crude oil from its share in the giant Kashagan oil field in Kazakhstan to a German refinery via Russia's Druzhba pipeline. The shipment - to the Schwedt refinery - shows how Kazakhstan is developing oil exports via the Druzhba pipeline, which connects Russian oil fields to Europe and which otherwise would be empty due to the European Union embargo on Russian crude.

Kazakhstan doesn't have a direct access to international sea routes and the lion's share of its oil exports pass through Russian territory. Druzhba's northern leg crosses Belarus and goes to Poland and Germany. Kazakhstan has been supplying oil to Germany since 2023 via Druzhba as the EU embargo doesn't forbid the purchase of non-Russian oil supplied via Russian pipelines. But up to now this has mostly been done by Kazakhstan oil producer Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO), in which Eni and Shell are the largest shareholders.

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