Ukrainian drone hits Tuapse oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region

Russian officials confirmed that Ukraine launched a barrage of drones on Monday, one of which crashed into the Tuapse oil refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region and ignited a fire.

PHOTO: Tuapse oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region. Getty Images

Tuapse oil refinery’s crude processing unit on the Black Sea “was damaged as a result of falling UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] debris,” officials from Krasnodar region’s operational headquarters said on the Telegram messaging app.

The refinery is owned by Russia’s biggest oil producer Rosneft and has a nameplate capacity of about 240,000 b/d, Reuters reports. It has been attacked several times since the Russia-Ukraine war started in 2022.

The Russian air defense system destroyed a total of 75 drones yesterday, including eight near Tuapse, Reuters reported citing the country’s defense ministry.

The incessant shelling of Russian energy facilities by Ukrainian drones has disrupted the country’s oil refining capacity and added upward pressure on the price of Brent crude.

Oil prices have gained following these attacks due to supply concerns in a global market already grappling with production cuts and other geopolitical conflicts.

Half of the refining capacity of the Tuapse oil refinery was shut down due to attacks that occurred in January and May.

Ukraine targets Russian energy infrastructure

Ukraine has ramped up its airstrikes on Russian energy infrastructure and oil facilities to curb the Russian military's fuel supplies, according to several oil market analysts. These strikes have targeted energy infrastructures in regions like Volgograd, Afipsky, Ilsky, Kursk, Shebekino, Belgorod, Tambov, Tula, and Voronezh.

Other major oil refineries located near the Russia-Ukraine border that previously came under Ukrainian drone attacks include the Ryazan oil refinery, which has a capacity of about 350,000 b/d.

Two major Lukoil-owned refineries came under attack earlier this year, near the city of Nizhny Novgorod. Rosneft’s refinery in Syzran caught fire in March after a drone struck one of its two CDU units.

These attacks have disrupted product supply from Russian refineries. Coupled with a surge in domestic fuel demand during the summer, the leading OPEC+ producer’s oil product exports dropped by 4.2% in June compared to the previous month, according to a Reuters estimate.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online