Europe faces more cuts in Russian oil and gas exports

Europe faces fresh disruption to energy supplies due to damage to a pipeline system that brings oil from Kazakhstan through Russia, the pipeline operator said on Monday, adding to concerns over a plunge in gas supplies.

CPC, which handles about 1% of global oil and whose largest shareholder is Russian pipeline firm Transneft, said exports from two of its three mooring points at a Black Sea terminal had been suspended, confirming a Reuters report.

The West accuses Russia of restricting energy supplies to boost prices in retaliation for sanctions imposed after Moscow's conflict with Ukraine. Russia denies this, blaming Western sanctions themselves and various technical problems.

Russian natural gas supplies to Europe are down around 75% year on year, with export company Gazprom last week announcing unscheduled maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany.

Natural gas prices jumped on Monday, with outages at Norwegian and UK gas fields adding to concerns.

British gas for immediate delivery was up 85 pence to 450 pence per therm at 0940 GMT, while the day-ahead contract rose 119 pence to 480 p/therm.

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