Ukraine on Thursday hit in a drone attack a key pipeline hub of Russia’s crude oil exports in the southern region of Krasnodar as Kyiv intensifies strikes on Russian energy and military infrastructure.
The pipeline terminal at Tikhoretsk, which hosts a major oil depot and a pumping station, was hit and a large fire broke out as a result, a source with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg.
Tikhoretsk is a major oil transshipment and pumping station for Russian oil supply in it southern regions and for exports from its Black Sea ports of Novorossiysk and Tuapse. The Tikhoretsk pumping station distributes crude received via four main pipelines toward the Black Sea ports.
The attack at Tikhoretsk could further complicate Russian oil exports from the Black Sea, which have been hampered in recent months by additional U.S. sanctions on Russian producers and frequent Ukrainian attacks and drone hits at the port of Novorossiysk and surrounding oil storage and pumping infrastructure.
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Earlier this month, Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal at Novorossiysk, setting the depot on fire.
Novorossiysk is a critical oil hub and loading terminal for a large part of Russia’s oil exports from the Black Sea. It is also close to a terminal operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) which operates the pipeline and loadings of crude oil from Kazakhstan’s huge oilfields.
The attacks on infrastructure and the hefty discounts of Russia’s crude to benchmarks in February sank Russian revenues from oil exports to the lowest level since the invasion of Ukraine four years ago, the International Energy Agency said today.
Russia’s crude and oil product export volumes slumped by 850,000 barrels per day to 6.6 million bpd in February, while total oil export revenues decreased to $9.5 billion, down by $1.5 billion from January, the IEA said in its Oil Market Report for March.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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