Russian oil refining drops 30% after new wave of Ukrainian strikes

According to industry sources and officials, Ukrainian attacks over the past week disrupted operations and caused emergencies at nine of Russia’s 35 largest refineries, Reuters reported.

Industry sources said the combined nominal daily capacity of the Russian refineries targeted by drones in recent weeks, including three major plants in central Russia, is about 2.2 million barrels. Russia’s total primary refining capacity is about 930,000 metric tons of crude oil per day, the agency reported.

At the end of October, Russian refineries were processing about 700,000 metric tons, or roughly 5 million barrels, of crude oil per day, according to Reuters’ sources.

The sources estimated that the actual reduction in Russia’s refinery output could be as much as 200,000 metric tons per day. The affected facilities include refineries in Ryazan, Yaroslavl and the Volga region, Reuters reported.

Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian refineries after Oct. 30, when an energy truce between Kyiv and Moscow announced by U.S. President Donald Trump failed to take effect.

In the latest attack, carried out overnight on Nov. 9, Ukrainian forces struck the Kirishi refinery, Russia’s second-largest.

Russia has already been forced to restrict fuel sales because of the Ukrainian attacks.

Russian authorities introduced similar measures in many regions during the summer, when an earlier wave of Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries coincided with peak seasonal fuel demand.