View of the Moscow Oil Refinery. Photo: Maxim Shipenkov / EPA
The Russian government has allowed a number of oil refineries to produce gasoline and diesel with deviations from the Euro-5 standard for sulfur content and a number of other characteristics. Kommersant reported this.
According to the publication, the cabinet made this decision back in the fall of 2025. Initially, the measure was supposed to remain in effect until May 1, 2026, but amid the fuel shortage, it was decided to extend its duration.
Details. Refineries that have a certificate of registration as an entity carrying out operations to process petroleum feedstock will be able to produce lower-quality fuel. In particular, this will affect enterprises that signed agreements with the Energy Ministry on the construction of new units and received the right to a reverse excise tax.
Such plants will be allowed to produce Euro-5 standard gasoline with sulfur content of up to 150 milligrams per kilogram, as well as diesel fuel with sulfur content of up to 350 milligrams per kilogram. As Kommersant notes, such indicators correspond to the Euro-3 class.
This fuel may be supplied only to the domestic market, and its export to EAEU countries is prohibited, the publication's sources said. The Energy Ministry is supposed to oversee fuel production. The ministry is required to report to the government every month on producers, volumes, and the technologies used.
Will this solve the shortage problem? Easing fuel quality requirements will not be able to fully eliminate the shortage, one of Kommersant's sources said. According to him, the new standards will not suit small refineries producing fuel of even lower quality, so they still will not be able to supply it to the market.
Additional fuel volumes can only partially reduce the shortage in certain regions, said Sergey Frolov, managing partner at NEFT Research. At the same time, the expert warned that fuel with elevated sulfur content could harm modern cars.
Fuel shortage in Russia. In a number of regions, the shortage of fuel is linked to Ukrainian Armed Forces attacks on refineries. By conservative estimates, refining capacity totaling about 77 million tons per year is currently shut down or operating with restrictions in Russia. As Novaya-Europe calculated, this is nearly a third, or 29%, of the country's entire oil refining capacity.
For the market, this means the loss of about a quarter of output of the main types of fuel: the lost capacity accounted for about 26% of gasoline production and roughly the same volume of diesel fuel.
Amid the fuel shortage that has arisen, various restrictions on its purchase have been introduced in at least 15 regions of Russia, as well as in annexed Crimea and occupied Luhansk region, the publication 7x7 calculated.
The most severe fuel crisis has been recorded in Crimea. It began at the end of May after Ukrainian Armed Forces drone attacks on the Novorossiya highway, which connects Rostov-on-Don and Simferopol via occupied territories.