Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Thursday instructed the government to diversify oil supply routes. A Russian court has ordered the suspension of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) for 30 days due to environmental violations related to the oil spill, Prime reports.

The suspension of the CPC will exacerbate the supply shortage in the oil market, which is experiencing one of the most difficult periods since the embargo on Arab oil in the 1970s. Nearly 1% of the world's oil supply is supplied through the CPC.

The authorities of Kazakhstan are trying to find a balance in relations with Russia, the West and China. President Tokayev ordered to study the possibility of building a pipeline across the Caspian Sea, which would allow oil to be delivered from Kazakhstan to Europe, bypassing Russia.

According to him, improving the infrastructure of the ports of the Caspian Sea is a "strategic task" of the government of Kazakhstan.