Reuters: Russia’s Fourth-Largest Oil Refinery Partially Suspends Operations After Ukrainian Strike

Russia’s Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez oil refinery in Kstovo, located in the Nizhny Novgorod region, has partially halted operations.

Reuters reported this, citing sources in the industry.

The shutdown came after a successful Ukrainian drone strike carried out on the morning of May 20.

According to sources cited by Reuters, the oil refinery, the fourth largest in Russia by processing capacity, has shut down its main technological unit, the AVT-6 crude oil processing unit.

The closure of the unit is expected to significantly reduce the plant’s output of petroleum products.

The disruption is expected to create even more uncertainty for Russia’s energy sector and domestic fuel supplies, as the Kstovo refinery is the country’s second-largest gasoline producer.

Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez can process up to 17 million tons of crude oil per year, representing roughly 5% of Russia’s total oil refining capacity.

Videos and photos from the site of the Ukrainian drone strike confirmed that the AVT-6 processing unit was hit, triggering a fire at the facility.

Refinery shutdowns

Reuters had previously reported that nearly all major oil refineries in central Russia have been forced to suspend or reduce fuel production following recent Ukrainian drone attacks.

According to Reuters sources, the combined refining capacity of plants that have fully or partially suspended operations exceeds 83 million tons per year, or about 238,000 tons per day.

That represents roughly a quarter of Russia’s total oil refining capacity.

Meanwhile, the affected refineries account for more than 30% of Russia’s gasoline production and around 25% of its diesel fuel output.