Russian officials announced this week sea storms had caused major disruption to Kazakh oil flows to global markets, leaving traders scrambling to find out the extent of the damage. The reality soon set in: politics was at least as important as how long repairs might take in determining when exports through the pipeline would resume. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium line that runs from fields in Kazakhstan and terminates in the Russian port of Novorossiisk on the Black Sea coast ships 1.2% of global oil to world markets. That includes oil produced in Kazakhstan by U.S. majors Chevron (CVX.N) and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and European companies Shell , Total and Eni (ENI.MI) at three major fields operated by them. Any major disruption to CPC […]