Russian oil transit to Uzbekistan jumps 20-fold via Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan received 81,000 metric tonnes of oil (close to 594,000 barrels) from Kazakhstan in the first half of 2026 through a route that transports Russian crude, according to pipeline operator KazTransOil.

Kazakhstan’s national pipeline operator reported on 12 November that transit rose by 77,000 tonnes from just 4,000 tonnes in January–October 2025. Its latest filing gives a single total for Uzbekistan without a breakdown by country of origin.

The company resumed shipments in December 2025, after the period used for the year-on-year comparison had ended. At the time, it planned to move up to 35,000 tonnes that month.

The route has carried much more in the past. KazTransOil says it moved 225,000 tonnes of Russian crude to Uzbekistan in all of 2024.

The backstory: KazTransOil to raise oil transit tariffs for Russia–Uzbekistan route

From pipeline to rail

The oil travels through Kazakhstan’s pipeline network to the Shagyr terminal, where KazTransOil loads it onto trains bound for Uzbekistan. In March, the operator raised its transit tariff for Russian crude on the route to $28.02 per tonne before VAT.

Uzbekistan pumped 482,200 tonnes of crude oil in January–September 2026, down 1.6% from a year earlier and 11% from the same period in 2024, according to national statistics.

Over the same nine months, Uzbekistan spent $1.56 billion on imports of oil, petroleum products and related materials, a 6% increase year on year. Spending on imported petrol rose 34% to $454 million, even as domestic petrol production increased 2.6% to 913,200 tonnes.