*

SPM-3 has been under maintenance since mid-November

*

Work to get it back online now in final stages

*

CPC is preparing to dismantle SPM-2 after drone attack

*

Industry data shows CPC exports fell 24% in December

(Adds detail, quotes in paragraphs 6-7)

MOSCOW, Jan 21 (Reuters) -

Maintenance work on single point mooring-3 ‌at the Caspian

Pipeline Consortium's Russian Black Sea terminal is in its final

stages, the CPC said on Wednesday, ​and it is preparing to

dismantle another SPM damaged by a Ukrainian naval ‍drone.

SPM-3 has been under planned maintenance since the middle of

November, ⁠while a drone ⁠attack on SPM-2 in late November

prompted a bottleneck in exports that has led to a steep fall ‌in

oil production and exports from Kazakhstan.

The CPC ​terminal handles around 1.5% of global oil or 80% of

total crude oil exports from Kazakhstan.

There are three SPMs, or floating buoys ⁠located some 5

kilometres (3.1 miles) from the ‍shore at ​the Yuzhnaya Ozereevka

CPC terminal near the port of Novorossiysk, which are able to

load oil onto tankers.

Two of the SPMs are usually engaged in loadings ‍operations,

while one is used as a backup.

"Special attention was paid to the final activities

involved in repairing the CPC's single point mooring SPM-3," the

CPC said in a statement.

"Since mid-November 2025, in challenging weather

conditions, partial replacement of the subsea hoses and subsea

loading arms of the cargo system has been carried out at the

facility," ​it ‍said.

SPM-2 remains offline following significant damage from

a Ukrainian naval drone attack on November 29. The CPC said on

Tuesday it had concluded that SPM-2 ​was beyond repair and that

it would need to be dismantled and replaced.

According to industry sources, oil exports via CPC dropped

by 24% in December from the previous month after drone attacks,

while Kazakhstan's crude production fell by 35% in the first 12

days of January.

Shareholders in CPC's 1,500-km (930-mile) pipeline include

Kazakhstan's state-owned oil company Kazmunaygas,

Russia's Lukoil and units of U.S. oil giants ​Chevron

and ExxonMobil ( XOM ).

Kazakhstan redirected 300,000 metric tons of oil away from

the CPC in December, Kazmunaygas said on Friday.

Separately, unidentified drones struck at least two oil

tankers in the Black Sea last week, including one ‍chartered by

Chevron ( CVX ), as they sailed towards the terminal.