Ukrainian drones have put at least 11 oil refineries out of action
Photo: Johan Nilsson / EPA
The Port of Tuapse, which has repeatedly come under attack by Ukrainian drones, has likely been non-operational for more than a month. Novaya-Europe drew attention to this after analyzing data from the VesselFinder service and satellite images.
Tanker activity. Since April 23, the port has not received a single oil tanker or civilian vessel. The nearest ship with its radar switched on is located more than 35 km from the shore.
According to NASA’s fire map, the last fire at the port was recorded approximately on May 10-11.
As Novaya-Europe previously wrote, the port normally handles about 8-10 vessels per day on average. Based on the available data, tankers that were supposed to arrive in Tuapse are now being redirected to other ports, including Novorossiysk.
What experts say. Denis Morokhin, economic columnist for Novaya-Europe, said that as of May 28, 11 oil refineries in Russia, including the Tuapse refinery, were still either not operating or running at less than half capacity.
In his assessment, the damage in Tuapse was “very serious”: refinery capacity, oil product storage infrastructure, and the terminal itself were affected.
“Right now, it seems to me, no one even understands how much time this [repair] will take. <...> Apparently, the repairs will shift closer to the end of June,” he said. According to Morokhin, the situation is complicated by the fact that the Tuapse refinery is part of Rosneft, while other major plants in the European part of Russia linked to the company have also been damaged in recent months, making it “not so easy to concentrate resources” on repairs.
A Novaya-Europe source in one trading company said that “everyone is waiting for new strikes” by the AFU on refineries and ports.
“We do not see favorable factors and do not understand when we will see them,” the source said.
The situation at other refineries. Morokhin said that serious restrictions remain at other plants hit by Ukrainian attacks as well. According to him, at the Syzran refinery and YANOS, “even more than half of the capacities have been stopped.” Among the major refineries in the European part of Russia, only the Volgograd refinery is likely still operating at full capacity.
Strikes on Tuapse. In late April and early May, the port in Tuapse was attacked several times by Ukrainian drones. The fire at the refinery could not be extinguished for several days, and residents complained about soot and “oil rain”.