The Oil That Crosses Lines: Germany’s Kazakh Supply Route Through Russian Ground

Image by Martin Foskett

By Martin Foskett | Newswire | Knelstrom Media

SCHWEDT, GERMANY -- Germany's PCK refinery at Schwedt will see its supply of Kazakh crude rise by roughly a third under an extended agreement between KazMunayGas and Rosneft Deutschland, a firm still owned by Russia's Rosneft, but managed under German trusteeship since 2022. The contract, confirmed by both sides, now runs to the end of 2026 and increases monthly deliveries to around 130,000 tonnes.

​The oil travels from Kazakhstan's main production fields, notably Tengiz and Karachaganak, via the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline, crossing Russian, Belarusian and Polish territory before reaching eastern Germany. Officials in Berlin describe the arrangement as a practical measure to stabilise energy supplies after Russian imports ceased in 2022. Roughly 1.5 million tonnes have been received so far in 2025, according to KazMunayGas figures, with total volumes expected to exceed 2 million tonnes by year's end.

Rosneft Deutschland occupies an unusual position. The company remains legally owned by Moscow's Rosneft, yet its German operations have been under the control of the Federal Network Agency since September 2022. That trusteeship, renewed again last month until March 2026, covers Rosneft's stakes in three German refineries: 54.17 per cent of PCK Schwedt, 24 per cent of MiRO Karlsruhe and 28.57 per cent of Bayernoil in Bavaria.

Energy analysts describe the supply deal as a continuation of the workaround that has kept Schwedt running since the end of Russian crude deliveries. Before the war, the plant processed up to 12 million tonnes a year, almost all from Russia's "Urals" blend. Since 2023, replacement feedstock has arrived by sea through the port of Rostock and now increasingly through Druzhba, filled with Kazakh barrels rather than Russian.

The Kazakh oil originates from consortia that include Western and Russian partners alike. Karachaganak Petroleum Operating B.V. involves Eni and Shell (29.25 per cent each), Chevron (18 per cent), Lukoil (13.5 per cent), and Kazakhstan's KazMunayGas (10 per cent). Tengizchevroil, which also contributes to exports bound for Europe, is 50 per cent owned by Chevron, 25 per cent by ExxonMobil, 20 per cent by KMG and 5 per cent by Lukoil.

The route through Russian territory remains politically awkward. Germany, one of Ukraine's principal supporters, now relies in part on a pipeline system still operated from within Russia. Berlin argues that the trusteeship severs any direct benefit to the Kremlin, while Kazakhstan emphasises that transit through Russia is purely logistical. Moscow, meanwhile, continues to collect transit fees, a modest revenue stream that keeps its infrastructure commercially relevant.

Chevron's ongoing talks to extend its Tengiz field concession beyond 2033 suggest that the underlying web of partnerships is built to last. For Schwedt, the arrangement ensures continuity: its workforce remains employed, its output steady, its chimneys active. Beyond that, the deal illustrates how energy trade, even in wartime, still follows the quiet logic of geography, oil flowing along the paths laid decades before, indifferent to the flags above.