How fast can Russia restore damaged refineries?
4 April 2024 16:40
ЕКСКЛЮЗИВ
It will take Russia a very long time to repair its damaged refineries, because they do not have access to high technology in the field of oil production and refining due to sanctions. And even if one of their foreign allies can help with this, the cost of repairs is extremely high. This is how Valeriy Ryabykh, a military expert and development director of the information and consulting company Defense Express, commented on the information from the Russians, who claim that they will allegedly shut down a number of refineries in April-May, in an exclusive commentary to Komersant ukrainskyi 
“Ukrainian drones of various types reach and hit the largest critical facilities at oil refineries. As a rule, these are primary oil processing units. They are developed by Western companies to order and for a very long time, from six months or more. This is a very long story. Such statements by the aggressor country are aimed exclusively at the Russian society to reassure them,”
– the expert said.
Valeriy Ryabykh cited the story of the Afip Oil Refinery in the Krasnodar Territory of the Russian Federation as an example of a similar plant being “repaired”. In June 2014, a fire broke out there due to the deterioration of a similar unit. As a result, the refinery was never fully restored.
“In September 2014, we started to launch some production lines. But it was not fully launched, although it was planned to be in a few years. At that time, the insurance company, not Russian bureaucrats who could have had their own interests at stake, estimated the repairs at $430 million at the exchange rate of the time. These are expensive things, and they are very poorly restored,”
– said Valeriy Ryabykh.
Since the beginning of the year, 13 Russian refineries have been attacked. The total installed capacity of the attacked refineries is 178 million tonnes per annum, but only eight refineries with a total installed capacity of 83 million tonnes per annum suffered significant damage.
The attacks on these refineries resulted in a rise in the global oil price.
On 2 April, drones attacked enterprises in Tatarstan, Russia, namely in Elabuga and Nizhnekamsk. In Yelabuga, drones attacked a company that manufactured Shaheds, and in Nizhnekamsk, Tatneft’s TANEKO refinery, which is capable of processing 16.2 million tonnes of oil per year, was attacked.
Author: Alyona Kaplina
