Caspian Pipeline Consortium Completes Black Sea Oil Spill Cleanup After Major Leak

An oil spill occurred during loading operations at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s (CPC) offshore terminal near Novorossiysk, Russia on August 29, 2025.

Petroleum was released at one of the terminal’s offshore single-point mooring buoys (SPMs), forcing the company to launch an emergency response operation.

Satellite images released by the Crimean Wind publication suggested that the oil slick stretched about 21 kilometers eastward from the #2 SPM. The outlet estimated the size of the release at between 5 and 10 tonnes, or roughly 1,500 to 3,000 gallons.

CPC suspended operations at two of its three mooring points during the emergency and confirmed that only SPM-1 remained operational. Normally, the terminal operates with two active moorings and keeps one as a backup.

The consortium reported that the spill site was quickly localised and that cleanup was completed by August 30. Collected waste was returned to the terminal for further disposal. CPC said emergency measures were suspended once surface conditions near the site were examined.

According to the company, no sorbents were used during the operation, and no shoreline contamination was detected. From the afternoon of August 30 onwards, water and air monitoring has been carried out twice a day using a third-party certified laboratory.

During the oil spill response, 115 water samples were taken, including from areas near the SPMs and from multiple control points: east of CPC-2 SPM in the direction of Shirokaya Balka, 1,000 meters from CPC-3 SPM towards the shore, across from Durso village beach, across from Fregat (Sukhaya Schel), and the Maly Utrish area.

These points were selected to track the possible trajectory of the slick. Since August 30, daily sampling continues at these locations, both morning and night. CPC reported that no excess pollutant levels have been recorded in seawater or air since the completion of cleanup operations.

The consortium exports mostly Kazakh oil via Russia and the Black Sea terminal, handling more than 1% of global crude supply. Its shareholders include major international companies such as Chevron and ExxonMobil.

Reference: CPC

Source: Maritime Shipping News