Oil refining in Russia dropped to nearly yearly minimum due to drone attacks - Bloomberg
Archive photo: Oil refining in the Russian Federation fell to an almost annual low due to drone attacks (Getty Images)
Oil refining in Russia has dropped to nearly a yearly minimum. The cause of this has been drone strikes on oil refineries and their slow repair, Bloomberg reports.
The source indicates that from April 11th to 17th, Russia processed 5.22 million barrels of oil per day. This is approximately 10,000 barrels per day, or 0.2%, lower than the average for the previous seven days.
Bloomberg writes that Ukraine has targeted an important sector of Russia's economy, and its government aims to restrict fuel supplies to the frontline against the military. This will also reduce revenue to the Russian budget.
"Earlier this year, drones targeted key Russian refineries, causing their partial or complete shutdown," the material states.
The source also notes that during the period from April 11th to 17th, most of the affected facilities were operating at a level close to the previous weekly average but still lower than the productivity before the attacks.
Almost yearly minimum of oil refining
The source indicates that the daily rates of crude oil processing at refineries affected by Ukrainian drone attacks from April 1 to 17 averaged 1.23 million barrels. This is approximately 280,000 barrels per day lower than the average for the period from January 1 to 24.
The Tuapse plant is still not operational, and other damaged refineries have not restored their productivity to pre-attack levels. Oil processing at the Norsi plant in Nizhny Novgorod is also below January levels.
"During April as a whole, Russian refinery runs have averaged about 5.23 million barrels a day, near the lowest levels since last May," Bloomberg wrote.
Strikes on refineries in Russia
Over the past few months, several major refineries in various regions of Russia have been targeted by drone attacks. In most cases, significant equipment has been damaged, which is quite difficult to procure under sanctions, repairing these plants is a lengthy process.
However, this has sparked a negative reaction in the US. For instance, the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, believes that Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries could have implications for the global energy situation.
Mikhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated that Ukraine will continue to target Russian refineries for destruction.
