Russian refineries last year reduced crude oil processing to a 12-year low of about 267 million tons due to unscheduled repairs after Ukrainian UAV attacks and a collapse in margins.
The ban on the export of gasoline, introduced to protect the domestic market, also had a negative impact on exports, The Moscow News writes on January 20.
Ukraine reportedly attacked several Russian oil refineries and fuel facilities last year, including the Volgograd Lukoil oil refinery, the Omsk oil refinery, the Gazprom Neft Slavyansk and Novoshakhtinsk oil refineries, and the Rosneft oil refinery in Tuapse.
Consequently, in 2024, Russia reduced the export of petroleum products through its sea ports by 9.1% compared to the previous year, to 113.7 million tons, against the backdrop of a drop in fuel production at refineries.
“Rakurs” wrote that at the end of December last year, the Novoshakhtinsky oil products processing plant, the largest in southern Russia, stopped both primary oil processing units as a result of an attack by Ukrainian drones. The only plant in the Rostov region with a capacity of 5.6 million tons of oil per year was attacked by Ukrainian drones on the night of December 19, after which a large fire broke out at the plant.
Before this, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the attack on the “Steel Horse” oil products terminal in the Oryol region of the Russian Federation on the night of December 14.
In addition, on the night of December 11, the Ukrainian military attacked an oil depot in the Bryansk region of Russia.
Source: Racurs
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