Russia increases oil exports following Ukrainian drone strikes on oil refineries - Reuters

According to sources cited by the agency, in August, Russia increased its oil export plan from its western ports — Primorsk, Ust-Luga, and Novorossiysk — to 2 million barrels per day. This is 200,000 barrels per day higher than the initial schedule.

The increase was prompted by Ukrainian drone strikes that temporarily halted operations at several oil refineries, thereby freeing up additional crude volumes for external shipments.

Reuters sources noted that predicting export shipments remains difficult.

"Attacks are ongoing and repair deadlines change daily. It’s unclear how much Russia can load this month or next," one source said.

Another source estimated that damage to pipelines could reduce Russia’s oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day.

In addition, the situation is complicated by a limited number of available tankers with imminent loading slots, which reduces Russia’s ability to quickly increase oil shipments to foreign markets.

Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil refineries

Over the past month, Ukraine attacked Lukoil’s plant in Volgograd, Rosneft’s facility in Ryazan, and several sites in Russia’s Rostov, Samara, Saratov, and Krasnodar regions.

In addition, Ukraine struck the Druzhba pipeline three times, which Moscow uses to supply cheap oil to its allies — Hungary, Slovakia, and Belarus.

According to Reuters, Ukrainian drone attacks in August halted capacities that account for about 17% of Russia’s oil refining.