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ExxonMobil and Chevron Infrastructure in the Black Sea? - 07/22/2026 - Conor Gallagher Why Is NATO Attacking
ExxonMobil and Chevron Infrastructure in the Black Sea? Posted on July 22, 2026 by Conor Gallagher As part of the
escalating NATO-Ukraine front against Russian energy infrastructure, on the night of July 17 a Liberian-flagged crude
oil tanker was struck twice by drones. A subsequent fire on board forced the vessel to cancel its call at the Caspian
Pipeline Consortium (CPC) Black Sea terminal. The CPC is a 1,510-km oil pipeline connecting Kazakhstan’s Caspian
Sea oil fields with Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, and it brings roughly 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil
exports to the world market. Its operations have been disrupted at various points during the war by Ukrainian attacks on
pumping stations in Russia and by drone strikes on the CPC loading terminal. Ukraine of course denies it is involved in
the attacks on Novorossiysk. What’s interesting is that not only Western majors have ownership stakes in CPC but this
specific tanker that was hit by drones was chartered by ExxonMobil, according to Reuters. This attack comes on the heels
of another Chevron-chartered tanker being struck two weeks ago. And here’s the ownership structure of the CPC,
courtesy of BlackSea Energy & Commodities: Attacking the CPC is nothing new for NATO-Ukraine. Back in April Moscow
accused Kyiv of hitting the terminal with drones, which likely caused a three-day scheduled shutdown for maintenance
purposes. Last year, following multiple attacks, Kazakhstan demanded Kiev halt its aggression on the pipeline loading
facilities. Yet despite the Ukrainians’ best efforts, the CPC Terminal in Novorossiysk transshipped a record of
70.52 million tonnes of crude oil last year, up 7 million tonnes from the previous year. The CPC brings a little more
than one percent of global oil to markets but it does have an outsized role for some countries. According to BlackSea
Energy & Commodities: The CPC pipeline is not only vital for Kazakhstan but also plays a significant role in global
oil stability. At peak capacity, it transports nearly 1.4 million barrels per day to global markets, supplying major
economies in Europe and Asia. This volume is sufficient to influence global oil prices and mitigate supply disruptions,
positioning CPC as a stabilizing force in international energy markets. Kazakhstan Says Thank You? Kazakhstan is highly
dependent on the CPC for its oil exports, with over 80% of its crude routed through the pipeline. Yet despite
NATO-Ukraine sustained attacks on its economic lifeline, Kazakhstan continues to move toward the West with open arms and
do harm to its relationship with Russia. Kazakhstan is now building NATO-standard shell factories and last year signed a
military cooperation plan with Türkiye. They followed it up with an April agreement with Türkiye to allow the transit
of military cargo and personnel. Such deals are frowned upon in Moscow and Beijing, seeing as Turkiye is a member of
NATO and plays a role in the export of CIA Islam. Kazakhstan now has military intelligence cooperation, joint defense
industry projects, drone production, and joint military exercises with Ankara. Kazakhstan and U.S. companies recently
signed artificial intelligence agreements worth $10 billion. Kazakhstan is party to the corrupt deal to enrich the Trump
and Lutnick offspring and maybe get American hands on a whole bunch of Kazakh tungsten, a critical mineral in short
supply due to China choking off the US war machine. Late last year at the 12th Summit of the Organization of Turkic
States (OTS) Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan agreed to deepen cooperation
across a range of areas, including trade and logistics—which would sideline Russia and increase cooperation with the
EU—and defense cooperation, including joint military exercises. Kazakhstan is also doing its part to squeeze Russian
wheat exports. NATO-Ukraine attacks in the Sea of Azov are forcing Russian wheat exporters to consider more expensive
alternative routes just as the new harvest enters the market. At the same time Kazakhstan is cutting off its market for
six months. Over 100,000 views for this false claim. Kazakhstan hasn’t imposed a blanket ban on Russian wheat,
what it’s introduced is a partial six-month restriction covering imports from all EAEU members and third countries
(Ukraine, China, France, Australia, whoever) with major… https://t.co/v4KB9h1JJZ — Brian McDonald (@BrianMcDonaldIE)
July 19, 2026 While McDonald is technically correct, it’s worth noting that nearly 100% of Kazakhstan’s wheat
imports come from Russia. According to The Times of Central Asia, Kazakhstan’s six-month pause risks a trade war with
Moscow and undermines the Eurasian Economic Union (members: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Armenia, which
has been threatening to leave): Kazakhstan’s order is country-neutral and preserves supplies to approved processors.
Yet previous countermeasures often arrived through plant-health rules, certificate disputes, and border controls rather
than openly declared retaliation. The wider problem lies inside the EAEU…The Eurasian Economic Commission can identify
barriers and convene negotiations, but it has struggled to stop national protection measures being implemented when
prices or food security become politically sensitive. Trade disputes now affect goods ranging from food to road cargo,
despite the common-market rules… The wheat ban, however, shows how the union now functions through exceptions. For
northern Kazakhstan’s farmers, fewer cheap truckloads will support crop prices, while millers pay more for rail
deliveries. Rail transit will remain exempt, but the argument over what an EAEU common market should provide is growing
harder to contain. Now many analysts like to point out how the Central Asian states need to hedge their bets and play
all sides, but this seems beyond the pale. And while in isolation it is nothing more than a few flies in the Russian
soup, when taken together with daily Ukrainian strikes, problems in Armenia, Baltic issues, seizure of “shadow
fleet” tankers, other Central Asia-EAEU problems, Syria, and Turkish moves in the Black Sea and Central Asia, well,
you start to end up with a bowl full of flies. NATO Lake Not To Be Getting back to the Black Sea, there is nothing new
in the NATO efforts to turn it into their own little lake. That goal has existed for years. You can go back further as
the Black Sea has been fought over for centuries. And efforts to “contain” Russia are always focused on its sea
access. Glenn Diesen. The Norwegian political scientist who specializes in Russian foreign policy writes: In the Clash
of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel Huntington argued: “The immediate source of Western
expansion, however, was technological: the invention of the means of ocean navigation for reaching distant peoples and
the development of the military capabilities for conquering those peoples… The West won the world not by the
superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather
by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerns often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do”.
Russia’s economic development was obstructed ever since the disintegration of Kievan Rus as it severed Russia from the
maritime arteries of international trade. Russia’s “return to Europe” and subsequently becoming a great power was
made possible under Peter the Great by gaining access to the Baltic Sea. Containment of Russia has since relied to some
extent on denying Russia reliable access to the sea. … In Europe, NATO has been instrumental to expand US control over
the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Arctic. NATO expansion to Bulgaria, Romania and possibly Ukraine aims to convert
the Black Sea into a NATO lake. Yet Project Ukraine, whatever else it may have achieved, has failed miserably on that
front. As GIS Reports noted recently, “Russia holds its strongest position in the Black Sea region since 1991 and is
poised to strengthen it further.” Oops. But at least NATO-Ukraine is doing its part to hammer global food supplies.
1.5 mmt. -29% YoY; -62% vs Jul 2024. That's SovEcon's forecast for Russian #wheat exports this July – the
lowest since 2017. Azov/Black Sea disruptions plus soft demand are the drivers. If shallow-water terminals stay shut,
this gets a lot worse come August, when exports… pic.twitter.com/33HPSGNI27 — Andrey Sizov (@sizov_andre) July
21, 2026 Ukraine’s grain exports, 90 percent of which typically move through Odessa, are also at a standstill. With
the Strait of Hormuz closed, it’s quite a time for the NATO-Ukraine to do its best to kill a third of global wheat
supplies. Turkish Gambit We featured an article yesterday from Andrew Korybko describing the fear that Türkiye might
test Russia’s resolve by trying stunts like escorting Ukrainian commercial ships or, further down the line, allowing
the transit of NATO warships through the Turkish Straits, permission it has thus far denied during the war in Ukraine.
Escorting ships would be quite the gambit, even for Erdogan’s Türkiye, as Russia intensifies its blockade of Odessa
by hitting ships that try to dock there. And where might they escort them to after the war, as it looks increasingly
likely Russia will eventually take all of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast? Moscow also appeared to issue a warning to
Türkiye when officials announced on July 17 (the day after Turkish FM Hakan Fidan made the comments about Black Sea
security) that the country would restrict stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, cherry plums, cherries,
sour cherries, and olives) imports from five large Turkish exporters. That’s a big hit for the Turkish agricultural
sector. From Turkiye Today: Türkiye ranks among the world’s largest exporters of stone fruit, with shipments
worth around $336.6 million in 2025, with Russia accounting for over 40%, or $140.6 million, of the total. On the energy
front, nearly half of Türkiye’s oil imports in 2025 came from Russia, and a little less than 40 percent of its
natural gas came from Russia. Both of those totals are declining however as Türkiye signs big LNG deals with the US and
others and works with Washington to get oil flowing into Türkiye from Iraq. Türkiye would also could lose its status
as exporter of Russian gas to Europe at the end of this year due to the EU vow (they really mean it this time!) to
completely halt imports of Russian fossil fuels by 2027. Elsewhere, Turkish and US officials continue to insist that the
long-running dispute over the Russian S-400 air defense system Türkiye purchased in 2019 is coming to an end. According
to Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Levent Gümrükçü, a resolution is at hand, which would see Ankara readmitted to
the F-35 fighter jet program and, more importantly, the removal of sanctions under the Countering America’s
Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. This entry was posted in Russia, Turkey on July 22, 2026 by Conor Gallagher. Post
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Ships Turn Away from Bab el-Mandeb; Hegseth Fried in Iran Hearings → Subscribe to Post Comments 9 comments Gretzn
July 22, 2026 at 6:42 am Nuking Europe remains the one and only real solution, simple as that. Reply ↓ Democrita
July 22, 2026 at 7:55 am Thanks for including this item today. Small formatting note: after this line in the middle —
“But at least NATO-Ukraine is doing its part to hammer global food supplies.” — there’s a paragraph
with a few twitter links in which the links didn’t take and it’s a jumble of text. Reply ↓ Conor
Gallagher Post authorJuly 22, 2026 at 10:42 am Fixed! Thanks for catching Reply ↓ Desiderata July 22, 2026 at 8:14
am The only thing more dangerous for the Turks than going against Russia is saying NO! to Brussels & NATO. Reply
↓ jefemt July 22, 2026 at 8:59 am Coffee hasn’t kicked in, but I had a thought. I wonder what the birth-rate
in the world is, what the ‘normal’ death rate is, and what annual threshold of lives lost in mass-global
events would have to be to see significant population declines, such that the curve of the path to The Jackpot bends and
is attenuated. Must be in the Davos speeches and printed materials somewhere, right? Maybe I should ask Peter Thiel,
Elroy, the Rothschilds, Jamie Dimon Jamie Dimon, and Bibi? I need moar coffee and less poison. Reply ↓ Who Cares
July 22, 2026 at 10:03 am They tend to use fertility rate and replacement rate. Replacement rate varies per country.
Western Europe ones for example have a replacement rate of 2.1, the lowest realistically possible. And fertility rates
across the board below that with France being first with a 1.61 fertility rate and Spain last with an 1.1 fertility
rate. A place like Sudan where there is a civil war, less economic development, and less food security easily gets a
replacement rate of 3+, good thing that the fertility rate for Sudan is ~4.1. Due to the above the global replacement
rate is 2.3. The global fertility rate dipped below that in 2023. UN forecast a fertility rate of 1.8 by 2100 and peak
number of humans alive in 2084. Note that this does not include the uncertainty of what is going to happen with food due
to the shortage of fertilizer thanks to the US-Iran war. Reply ↓ Mikel July 22, 2026 at 8:59 am “As part of
the escalating NATO-Ukraine front against Russian energy infrastructure, on the night of July 17 a Liberian-flagged
crude oil tanker was struck twice by drones…” “Ukraine’s grain exports, 90 percent of which
typically move through Odessa, are also at a standstill. With the Strait of Hormuz closed, it’s quite a time for the
NATO-Ukraine to do its best to kill a third of global wheat supplies.” Nobody is putting more pressure on global
energy and supply routes. Nobody is choking more chokepoints… And similar disruptions are supposed to be putting
pressure on the USA. Hmmmmm….. Reply ↓ grvr July 22, 2026 at 11:19 am And Washington’s strategy comes
into focus – America wants to be the only supplier of energy in the world. Obviously it is impractical, and
millions (or billions) of lives will have to be sacrificed to keep the USA in the top spot. Reply ↓ AG July 22,
2026 at 7:43 pm re: Black Sea Per Sleboda and Martyanov RU has massively expanded control, and is eventually eclipsing
UKR access. So no meaningful maritime trade and movements possible at some point. RU Navy has simply repositioned
outside and via missiles has comfortable leverage. I would speculate: RU has turned the RAND-think about Black Sea
control into a trap for NATO. It´s the familiar backward think of certain sections among Western militay planners that
you need to be at the actual contact line and you need to reign over territory in order to exert control over it and
over that territory´s actual role in the war. You do not. But for that you need the adequate military means. re:
Türkiye In the first interview by Randy Credico with Martyanov and Sevim Dagdelen several weeks ago, she did point at
closer military cooperation between Türkiye and Germany. I doubt these plans will mature but I would have liked to hear
Martyanov´s answer which he didn´t provide. p.s. Is it delusional to assume that Türkiye also needs to keep RU
sympathies with a rabid Israel in the back of their mind? Even though any such plans by Israel are insane entertaining
them is enough to force Türkiye spend resources for contingency plans on countering them. Eventually who is more
valuable to Uncle Sam, Israel or Türkiye… Reply ↓ Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be
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