Bloomberg: Ukrainian drones 'shut down' two major Russian oil ports on Black Sea
Illustrative photo: refinery in Tuapse (Russian media)
Russia’s two largest oil ports on the Black Sea have halted oil loading onto tankers following overnight drone strikes by Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.
Preliminarily, the reports refer to two major terminals near Novorossiysk in Russia — the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (SRS) terminal and the Sheskharis oil depot. While the SRS stated that the halt was solely due to air raid alerts, exact details regarding the Sheskharis depot are not yet available beyond the fact that operations have stopped.
Together, these two terminals export over two million barrels of oil per day from Russia and Kazakhstan. SRS and Sheskharis are key parts of the global oil supply chain, which transports more than 40 million barrels per day.
"Ukraine has radically increased its targeting of Russian oil assets since the start of August, a step that has prompted the Kremlin to ban gasoline exports and consider curbs on diesel. Those attacks have centered on refineries, but ports and pumping stations have also become targets," the outlet adds.
During the day on September 24, a drone attack was reported in Tuapse, near Novorossiysk. Explosions were heard along with gunfire as Russian forces tried to shoot down the drones.
Overall, during the night of September 23–24, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck refineries in Bashkortostan and pumping stations in Russia’s Volgograd region, and drones also attacked the Astrakhan gas processing plant. All targets were reportedly hit.
