Ukraine Hits Another Russian Refinery as Fuel Crunch Worsens

Ukraine continues to pound Russian refineries in nearly daily drone attacks that damage refining infrastructure, deepen the fuel crisis in Russia, and tighten global fuel markets.

In the latest attack on Monday night, Ukrainian forces hit the 180,000-barrels-per-day Afipsky refinery in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar.

A fire broke out at the refinery as a result of the strike, the governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratiev, wrote in a post on Telegram on Tuesday.  

At least 10 homes were damaged in the Afipsky village and drone debris killed two people at the local railway station, the governor added.

The Afipsky refinery, owned by privately-held firm ForteInvest, has been targeted by Ukrainian strikes before. The most recent attack on the refinery was last month as Ukraine has intensified its campaign to reduce domestic fuel supply in Russia.

Russia has been suffering from a gasoline and diesel crunch since the spring, when Ukraine intensified its drone attacks at Russian refineries, aiming to cripple fuel supply to the front lines and to the domestic Russian market.

The drone hits on refineries, including deep into Russian territory more than 1,000 miles from the border with Ukraine, have become a nearly daily occurrence.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is in charge of energy issues including Russia’s OPEC+ talks, sought to alleviate concerns on Monday, saying that some oil refineries in Russia have resumed operations after repairs, which could soon raise supply on the domestic market. 

Russia has been scrambling to ease concerns amid the crisis that has seen fuel rationing in many regions, gas stations in big cities running out of fuel, and long queues at many gas stations.

Russia’s diesel and gasoil exports have crashed so far this month to the lowest in many years, as Moscow extended restrictions on diesel exports amid the fuel crisis. The lack of Russian diesel adds to Middle East supply disruptions to tighten the global middle distillate market.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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