Ukraine says it hit oil-processing plants in Russia’s Perm region and Tatarstan overnight, resuming attacks after US envoys visited Moscow this weekend.
“Our long-range forces have been used against oil refineries in the Perm region and Tatarstan,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram statement on Monday, providing no further details.
The country has been carrying out intense strikes on Russia’s refineries to crimp its ability to process crude and supply oil-products to the domestic market. As a result of the attacks, Russia’s production of road fuels nosedived, forcing the government to impose temporary bans on most exports of gasoline and diesel.
Perm is home to a 260,000-barrel-a-day plant, located about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) east of Moscow and owned by Russia’s largest private oil producer Lukoil PJSC. Tatarstan hosts a cluster of oil-processing and petrochemical facilities, including Tatneft PJSC’s 300,000-barrel-a-day Taneco and the 145,000-barrel-a-day independent TAIF-NK refinery.
Lukoil, Tatneft and TAIF-NK did not immediately respond to Bloomberg requests for comments.
Perm governor Dmitry Makhonin said in a Telegram statement that 27 drones had been downed over the region overnight, with one residential building damaged. Russia’s Defense Ministry also said drones were intercepted over Tatarstan.
Ukraine resumed its attacks on Russia’s oil-processing plants on Sunday, hitting the major Ryazan refinery after a four-day pause. The strike happened after US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff held talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and left for Kyiv.
Russia’s diesel-export restrictions as a result of Ukrainian attacks have added pressure to the global market for the fuel already squeezed by the war in the Middle East.
US retail diesel prices rose to a record last week, threatening to fan inflation, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy assets were one of the reasons for rising global energy prices.
According to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, the nation will lift its diesel-export ban once domestic inventories of the fuel have been refilled. Currently, the restrictions on diesel sales abroad for producers are in force through September.
On Sunday, Russian billionaire Vagit Alekperov, the main Lukoil shareholder, said it takes the producer around 2 to 3 weeks to repair refineries after drone attacks.
source: rigzone.com