Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries affected more than 10% of the country’s production capacity for two days.
Three Russian oil refineries shut down due to Ukrainian drone attack. In particular, the largest oil refinery in the country – The Ryazan plant of PJSC Rosneft near Moscow, a little less Novoshakhtinsky plant in the south of the Rostov region and another – Norsi PJSC Lukoil In Nizhny Novgorod.
In total, as Bloomberg notes, in the two days of the attack on Russia, 12% of the country’s oil refining capacity was damaged. What consequences this has for the Russian economy is beyond the story.
What is broken
Ryazan Oil Refinery located approximately 200 kilometers southeast of Moscow. The enterprise has a capacity of 17.1 million tons per year or about 340 thousand barrels per day and is the main supplier of motor fuel for the capital regions of Russia.
As reported by the Russian public service ASTRA, citing sources, two technical installations at the plant were damaged as a result of the strike. One of them is blood pressure. The AVT (atmospheric vacuum tube) is the main element of an oil refinery.
In addition, after the drone attack, the work was stopped Novoshakhtinsky Oil Refinery. The plant’s capacity is 5.6 million tons per year or approximately 112 thousand barrels per day.
The drones also damaged the plant. Norsi PJSC Lukoil in Nizhny Novgorod and hit an oil depot in the Oryol region. As a result of the attack on Norwegian the largest oil refining unit, which provided 53% of the refinery’s refining, was put out of action.
Thus, as Bloomberg writes, the attacks on these three facilities led to damage to 12% of Russia’s oil refining capacity.
In addition, there is information that the Russians managed to take down a drone aimed at an oil refinery Kinef PJSC Surgutneftegaz in Kirishi on the shores of the Baltic Sea. As known, Kinef is a large enterprise specializing in the production of fuel for export and any significant failure at this plant will have a negative impact on the global diesel fuel market.
What are the consequences for the Russian Federation?
As experts explain, the consequences of drone strikes on Russian refineries are currently not critical for the Russian economy. In particular, the expert Carnegie Foundation Sergei Vakulenko said that the two refineries attacked recently operate for export and do not play an important role in supplying the domestic market, and export losses can be compensated by the sale of crude oil.
“But the more important thing here is that if the Ukrainian drones reach Ust-Luga, which is located 1000 km from the Ukrainian border, it means that another 18 Russian refineries with a total capacity of about 170 million tons per year can undergo it is more than half of Russian oil refining, which is not so important for the fuel supply of the whole of European Russia, “the expert believes.
In addition, Vakulenko said that the risk from small drone strikes for refineries is not too great. Drones, he said, can cause a fire in a business, but cannot destroy a plant. With a lot of luck, the drone can land on a gas fractionation unit – the most vulnerable production unit, full of hot ethane, propane and butane. Therefore, with such a hit, there is a chance to cause an explosion as large as possible and cause significant damage to this installation, but in general the plant will remain intact, the expert added.
At the same time, Vakulenko said that “because of the sanctions, the repair of the failed equipment will require more time and effort, which makes us think about the prospects – how many attacks and accidents can be threaten Russia’s budget revenues and stability in the domestic market.”
The group’s military-political observer also speaks about the danger for the domestic market of the Russian Federation Information resistance Alexander Kovalenko.
As the expert explained, the oil refining sector is very important for the Russian Federation – there are actually three categories.
“The first is the export of oil and energy products, and not only oil, but gas, condensates. And export is very important for Russia, because it is income and replenishment of the budget. The budget is directly financed the war against Ukraine. The The second category is the domestic demand, that is, for civilians, for commercial use, etc. The third most important in terms of its influence on our part, but the most complicated is the army, part of the military, that is, the occupation forces of Russia, which requires a constant allocation of material parts, as well as fuel lubricants,” Kovalenko told Espresso.
According to the expert, if exports begin to suffer due to the lack of products received, then the budget suffers. At the same time, there is a disadvantage for the Russians and their commerce.
“But for Russia, two parts dominate – the first and the third, and the second is intermediate, nobody really cares about it. When there is not enough export capacity to fill the budget, and when there is not enough resource to fill the third military category, they begin to have There have been problems in supplying the troops with fuel and lubricants,” the observer adds.
Therefore, he is convinced that Moscow will limit the civil and commercial part.
Fuel price
Kovalenko’s words have been confirmed. So, according to the Russian agency RBC, against the backdrop of attacks on oil refineries, fuel prices in the Russian Federation reached a six-month maximum.
The exchange price of one ton of A-95 fuel exceeded 60 thousand rubles for the first time since September. Then a historical maximum was reached – 76.876 thousand rubles per ton. In addition, other types of fuel have become more expensive.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.