MOSCOW, April 9 (Reuters) - The Caspian Pipeline

Consortium is operating at two of the three moorings at its

Black Sea export terminal after a Russian court lifted

restrictions on its infrastructure, it said on Wednesday, easing

worries about a drop in Kazakh oil output and exports.

The CPC usually utilizes two of its three moorings, keeping

one as a backup. It said it will give further information later

about a resumption of operations at its third mooring, Single

Point Mooring-2 (SPM-2).

A source close to the CPC said the restrictions on one of

the moorings still put a strain on its operations and exports.

The court ruled on Friday that the CPC's terminal facilities

should not be suspended, overturning a decision by the transport

watchdog to halt two of three moorings after a snap inspection

related to a massive fuel spill in December.

The resumption of loading from one of the moorings will help

avert a potential fall in Kazakhstan's oil production and

supplies via the CPC, which accounts for around 80% of the

country's oil exports.

Expected Black Sea CPC Blend oil exports for April were

still revised down to 1.6 million barrels per day, or 6.2

million metric tons, from 1.7 million bpd in the preliminary

plan, according to two industry sources.

The decline in loading is due to a fall in Russian oil

exports via the CPC, the sources said, as there will be no

supplies from the oil depot in the Krasnodar region, where there

was a large fire in March after a drone attack.

The CPC has been in the spotlight since the start of

Russia's war in Ukraine. The consortium closed all but one of

its mooring points several times in 2022 due to damage, severely

cutting exports via the route.

The pipeline is a major oil export route for Kazakhstan,

which - due mainly to rising production from the giant

Chevron ( CVX )-led Tengiz oilfield - has been breaching export quotas

within the OPEC+ producer group, which includes OPEC and Russia.

Other OPEC+ members, including Saudi Arabia, have also been

pressing Kazakhstan to cut production to meet its quotas.

On Thursday, OPEC+ decided to raise output ahead of

schedule, signalling the group was confident non-compliant

members would reduce output in the coming weeks.