Russian gasoline production fell in January – Kommersant

Gasoline production in Russia saw a year-on-year decrease of nearly 2% last month due to an accident at one of Russia’s major processing plants and to Ukrainian drone attacks targeting several other refineries, Kommersant reported on Monday.

Production of all types of fuels declined by 1.8% to 3.49 million tons last month, the outlet said, citing industry data. While domestic supplies increased by 6.5% to over three million tons last month, exports slumped by 31.5% to just 442,300 tons, as almost all major oil companies have reduced their shipments, according to the outlet.

The country’s largest private oil company Lukoil alone has slashed its fuel exports sixfold, the report noted. The slump was due to an accident at the company’s Nizhny Novgorod oil refinery, which supplies gasoline to the Moscow region. According to Kommersant, it is still unclear when the plant will resume operations as necessary equipment is subject to Western sanctions.

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Ukrainian drone attacks targeting multiple facilities that handle fuel exports have added pressure on the refining industry. In January alone, UAVs hit refineries in the Krasnodar and Leningrad regions and in the city of Volgograd. The impact of the explosion at the Volgograd oil refinery, where a drone damaged the primary oil-refining unit, is yet to be assessed. The 14-million-ton-a-year processing plant supplies fuel to Russia’s southern regions.

Experts from energy analytics firm Kpler expect February gasoline exports from Russia to drop further, affected by reduced output. Supplies to North African countries and Nigeria are forecast to be the hardest hit.

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