Refinery production figures, export contracts and tanker routes are now off-limits to public reporting in Russia, under a decree Putin signed Monday, Reuters reported. The Kremlin points to unfriendly actions by Washington and its allies as the reason, and the restrictions took effect on signing, with the government given 10 days to define exactly which product codes are covered.
Data on refining volumes at Russian plants is now restricted, along with contract details, including product names, quantities, prices, buyers, sellers, payment terms, shipping routes, and vessel coordinates at export terminals. Customs statistics and planned sales volumes on commodity exchanges fall under the same rule. None of it can appear “through mass media or internet networks,” per the decree text, unless a company chooses to disclose its own figures.
Moscow classified crude output data after annexing Crimea in 2014 and tightened that secrecy again after invading Ukraine in 2022. Monday’s decree does the same for refining and logistics data, tying it directly to sanctions enforcement on the rationale that the less Western governments can verify independently, the harder the price cap is to police.
The timing lines up with a rough year for Russian refineries. Ukrainian drones have hit a Russian refinery every three days on average through the first eight months of 2026, and IEA figures put national throughput at 3.8 million barrels a day by June, down 30% from a year earlier and the lowest level in over two decades. Gasoline output is down roughly 20% and diesel nearly 30%, with fuel shortages reported across 92% of Russian regions.
Officials in Moscow describe the damage as under control. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said this month that fuel supply had improved on additional refinery deliveries, while Putin himself has put the share of refineries still needing repairs at around 10%.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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