A preliminary hearing began in Astana on a lawsuit filed by China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Co., or CNODC, seeking to overturn Kazakhstan's April 2025 order that redistributed tariff revenue on Russian crude transiting to China via Kazakhstan, Kursiv reported on March 17. Since the redistribution, Kazakhstan has received a greater share of the tariff revenue at CNODC's expense.

Kazakhstan's April 2025 order kept the total transit tariff at $15 per ton but redistributed revenue from the Kazakhstan-China oil pipeline joint venture, co-owned by CNODC and KazTransOil, to the KazTransOil-controlled Priirtyshsk-Atasu segment. KazTransOil argues the change is economically justified because China has already recouped the costs of constructing the Atasu-Alashankou section of the pipeline, and the joint venture's debt has been repaid.