Kazakhstan's oil output decline slowed in early ​December after a Ukrainian drone strike on a Black Sea export terminal disrupted flows, an industry source said on ⁠Wednesday.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which handles about 80% of Kazakhstan's crude exports via Russia's Novorossiysk port, was damaged on ⁠November 29 ‌when a key loading unit was hit, reducing exporting capabilities.

Kazakhstan's oil and gas condensate production declined by 6% in the first two days of December from the average November level, ⁠according to an industry source, who did not reveal his identity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.

The source said that a fall in the average production in December 1-9 slowed to 4.5% to 1.94 million barrels per day.

Kazakhstan's energy ministry said on Wednesday ⁠that the country plans to divert ​some Kashagan crude to China to offset reduced CPC capacity.

Separately, the source said the Karachaganak field restored output to planned levels in ‍December, lifting production by 2.5% from November after supplies resumed to Russia's Orenburg gas plant.

The facility, the largest facility of its kind ​in the world, was forced to suspend its intake of gas from Kazakhstan in October after a Ukrainian drone attack.

Kazakhstan's energy ministry and the Kashagan consortium did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The overall decline in oil production shows the impact of the Ukrainian conflict on OPEC+ member Kazakhstan, which exported about 68.6 million tons of oil last year and is the world's 12th-largest oil producer.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian energy infrastructure since August in an effort to hurt funding for Russia's army, but its decision to strike CPC facilities has been condemned by Kazakhstan and the Kremlin given its international significance and international ⁠participation.

The CPC, which accounts for 1% of global crude supply ‌and includes Russian, Kazakh and U.S. shareholders, has had to reduce exports because a key part of its loading infrastructure - a single-point mooring (SPM) - was damaged in the attack.

Industry sources have said that the ‌CPC will not ⁠return to full export capacity until at least December 11 when SPM-3, which has been under maintenance since the ⁠middle of November, get back to operations.

(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Louise Heavens)