Another Russian refinery was taken offline on Friday following a Ukrainian drone attack, in a sign that Ukraine and Russia continue to trade strikes on energy infrastructure despite separate talks with U.S. officials in New York aimed at de-escalation.
The Novoshakhtinsk refinery in the southern Russian region of Rostov was hit by drones and had to be taken offline, regional governor Yury Slyusar said in a post on Telegram early on Friday.
As a result of the drone attacks, the Novoshakhtinsk refinery, which has the capacity to process 110,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was damaged and halted operations, the official said.
Ukraine continues its campaign to cripple Russian refining capacity, fuel supply, and export revenues. Due to the low refinery production, Russia has been forced to ban diesel exports for months and is likely to extend the ban beyond September 30. The ban was initially introduced in July as Ukraine has continuously taken Russian refineries offline.
Last week, Ukraine hit an oil refinery near Moscow, damaging a processing plant co-owned by Rosneft and Gazprom Neft.
Recent attacks from both sides show that there isn’t any truce in attacking energy sites.
Ukraine’s forces hit the refinery in Yaroslavl with drones last week, while Russia attacked infrastructure in Kyiv.
Russian daily Vedomosti reported last week that the government would extend its ban on diesel exports for all fuel producers to October 31, due to delayed refinery maintenance and the need to rebuild fuel reserves before winter.
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 Russian ban on diesel exports has added to the Middle East crisis to tighten global middle distillate markets.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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