Russia Scrambles To Restore Fuel Supplies As Refineries Resume Operations

By Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

Amid the ongoing fuel crisis in Russia, authorities are rushing to ease concerns that the shortages are worsening.

Russia has been suffering from a gasoline and diesel crunch since the spring, when Ukraine intensified its drone attacks at Russian refineries, aiming to cripple fuel supply to the front lines and to the domestic Russian market.

The drone hits on refineries, including deep into Russian territory more than 1,000 miles from the border with Ukraine, have become a nearly daily occurrence.   

But Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is in charge of energy issues including Russia’s OPEC+ talks, sought to alleviate concerns on Monday.

Some oil refineries in Russia have resumed operations after repairs, which could soon raise supply on the domestic market, Novak told reporters today, as carried by Russian news agency Interfax.

“The current situation is constantly changing. Several refineries are already back in operation, therefore, we're expecting an increase in amounts of supplier taking into account logistics,” the official was quoted as saying.

“The situation is changing every day. We're constantly monitoring it and are making decisions at our headquarters. We're gathering the federal headquarters with the regions and all of our companies twice a week,” Novak said.

Russia has been scrambling to ease concerns amid the crisis that has seen fuel rationing in many regions, gas stations in big cities running out of fuel, and long queues at many gas stations.

Amid peak demand season, Russia has been suffering from gasoline and diesel shortages for over three months, as Ukraine’s drone campaign to strike Russian refineries forced many large processing sites offline in the spring and summer.

Russia has turned to South Korea and India for fuel imports as one or the other refinery is constantly out of service due to the Ukrainian attacks. 

Russia’s diesel and gasoil exports have crashed so far this month to the lowest in many years, as Moscow extended restrictions on diesel exports amid the fuel crisis. The lack of Russian diesel adds to Middle East supply disruptions to tighten the global middle distillate market.