Russia’s vital oil export loading ports on the Baltic Sea appeared to be on fire again early on Friday, as Moscow is not getting reprieve from Ukrainian drone attacks this week that aim to reduce its oil export capabilities and the benefits Russia is reaping from the soaring oil prices and its now-unsanctioned crude.
The ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga were on fire early on Friday, Bloomberg reports, based on tracking NASA satellite images of the area that show the fires had likely started 3-12 hours before they were detected by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System.
Alexander Drozdenko, the governor of the Russian region of Leningrad, where the ports are located, posted on Telegram that Russia had destroyed 36 drones during the night, and the warning of air raid had been lifted. Preliminary information points to no people injured, Drozdenko said.
Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russia’s Baltic Sea ports this week, crippling loading operations and forcing suspension of activities.
In the Monday attack, drone attacks triggered fires at fuel storage tanks in Primorsk while neighboring Ust-Luga also suspended operations amid the barrage before partially resuming loadings.
Then an attack on Wednesday at Ust-Luga resulted in a major fire, suspending operations.
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Primorsk is crucial for Russia’s exports as it ships the Russian flagship Urals crude and low-sulfur diesel to international markets, including volumes linked to the so-called “shadow fleet” used to bypass Western sanctions. Industry data indicates the port has capacity of about 1 million barrels per day (bpd).
The drone attacks have now hit Russia’s oil loadings for exports, with Reuters calculations suggesting that as much as 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity is currently offline, factoring in port outages, pipeline issues, and tanker-related disruptions.
The disruption means Russia cannot take full advantage of the spike in oil prices and its now unsanctioned oil that is wanted again in its key market India. It also means that supply of Russian oil is disrupted at a time of the biggest oil supply disruption occurring with the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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