Due to UAV strikes: Moscow Oil Refinery halts operations until 2027
24 June 18:12
Gazpromneft’s Moscow refinery, which was struck twice by drones in June, will not be able to resume operations in the near future, two sources familiar with the company’s plans told Reuters, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
Moscow’s only oil refinery, which supplies more than a third of all fuel to the capital, will be able to repair the damage by 2027 at the earliest, the sources said. According to one of them, repairs to the plant, which has an annual capacity of 14 million metric tons, will take at least six months.
As a result of the attacks on June 16 and June 18, both primary oil refining units at the refinery were damaged. Consequently, the refinery, which produces about 3 million metric tons of gasoline and the same amount of diesel fuel annually, has halted operations.
In a pessimistic scenario, the cost of restoration work at the Moscow refinery could reach $1 billion, according to estimates by analysts at the investment bank Sinara. They believe it could take up to a year to resume operations at the refinery.
Following attacks on refineries in June—which, in addition to Moscow, targeted facilities in Nizhnekamsk, Tyumen, and Volgograd, and 16 more plants in May—gasoline production in Russia plummeted by 25%, to 85,000 metric tons per day. Meanwhile, during the summer months, the economy consumes 110,000 metric tons of automotive gasoline daily. Thus, the fuel shortage in the domestic market amounts to approximately 20% of consumption.
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Gasoline is being prioritized for delivery to Moscow, while regions are introducing restrictions on its sale one after another. Authorities in 20 regions have imposed official limits at gas stations. At the same time, unofficial restrictions have spread to more than 60 regions.
To plug the “hole” in the fuel balance, the government has already allowed refineries to lower gasoline quality standards to “Euro-3” and is preparing to begin importing gasoline from India.
As a reminder, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have recently intensified attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, primarily using long-range drones, as well as cruise missiles and missile drones. Ukrainian strikes have already disabled a significant portion of Russia’s oil refining capacity. Currently, in many regions of the Russian Federation, this has led to acute shortages, rising prices, and long lines at gas stations.
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