On Wednesday, two more major oil refineries were paralysed by Ukrainian drone attacks, which, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, hit 6 Russian regions.
According to Bloomberg, Rosneft's largest refinery in the Ryazan region, which accounts for almost 5% of all oil refining in Russia, has stopped working.
The refinery, which last year processed about 13 million tonnes of oil and produced more than 6 million tonnes of petrol and diesel fuel, suffered damage to two units. The refinery was attacked by a UAV, after which a fire broke out at the plant, the governor of the Ryazan region said.
According to the newspaper's sources, the damaged units accounted for 70% of the refinery's capacity, which is located 200 km from Moscow and supplies fuel to the capital's region.
The day before, the Lukoil-owned Nizhny Novgorodnefteorgsintez refinery was attacked. According to Reuters sources, the refinery, which is among the top 5 largest in Russia, was forced to shut down its main primary processing unit, which accounts for more than half of its capacity. Last year, Lukoil's Nizhny Novgorod refinery processed over 15 million tonnes of oil.
At the same time, the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Rostov Region, which supplies fuel to the south of Russia, was shut down.
The refinery's capacity is 5.6 million tonnes per year, or about 112,000 barrels per day. Last year, Lukoil's Nizhny Novgorod refinery processed over 15 million tonnes of oil.
The news agency writes that the three facilities hit by Ukrainian drones provide Russia with about 12% of its refining capacity.
The situation for the market is potentially serious, experts say. Amid the UAV strikes, petrol is rapidly rising in price on the stock exchange.
Background. As reported, Lukoil's refinery has halted half of its production due to a drone attack.