Reuters: Third Russian oil refinery shuts down this week after drone attacks
Reuters reported this, citing sources, according to Ukrinform.
According to the sources, the refinery in Novokuybyshevsk, owned by Rosneft, halted primary oil processing on April 18 following an attack by Ukrainian drones.
In 2024, the plant processed 5.74 million tons of crude oil, producing 1.10 million tons of motor gasoline, 1.64 million tons of diesel fuel, and 1.27 million tons of fuel oil, the sources said.
Local Governor Vyacheslav Fedoryshchev reported the attacks on Novokuybyshevsk and Syzran on Saturday.
Another refinery, in Tuapse, which exports most of its production, also halted operations following a drone attack on April 16, sources said. According to them, the attacks on April 16 and 20 on the Black Sea port city of Tuapse damaged transportation infrastructure at the port and caused a fire at a petroleum products storage facility. Sources speaking on condition of anonymity said the refinery’s operations were halted because the fire at the port made it impossible to ship products. According to them, it is unknown when operations may resume.
The Tuapse refinery, with a production capacity of about 12 million metric tons per year, or 240,000 barrels per day, produces gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, and vacuum gas oil.
Rosneft’s Syzran refinery also suspended oil processing after technological equipment was damaged on April 18 as a result of drone attacks, two industry sources reported. The Syzran refinery has a capacity of 8.5 million tons per year, or about 170,000 barrels per day.
According to industry sources, in 2024 the plant processed 4.3 million tons of crude oil, producing 800,000 tons of gasoline, 1.5 million tons of diesel fuel, and 700,000 tons of fuel oil.
As reported by Ukrinform, a NASA Worldview satellite image taken on April 21 shows that following an attack by Ukrainian drones, smoke from burning oil tanks in the city of Tuapse in Russia’s Krasnodar Krai stretched over 300 kilometers and reached Stavropol.
Image: still from video footage
