The Novoshakhtyn Oil Refinery. Photo: Eric Romanenko / TASS
The Novoshakhtyn oil refinery, the largest in southern Russia, has shut down after a Ukrainian drone attack, The Moscow Times reports.
The refinery, located in the Rostov region, has an annual capacity of 5.6 million tonnes of oil and is the only major refinery in the region. As a result of the night attack, a fire broke out at the facility, shutting down two primary refining units, including the AVT-2.5-2 unit, which processes 50% of the refinery’s capacity.
A drone attack led to a fire in an oil product tank, forcing the shutdown of a second unit with similar capacity. This is the third suspension of production at the Novoshakhtyn plant since the beginning of 2024. The first two raids took place in March and June, after which oil refining volumes fell sharply. In January-October 2024, the plant processed 2.7 million tonnes of oil, which is 2.1 million tonnes less than in the same period last year.
As a result of Ukrainian UAV attacks and Western sanctions restricting the supply of technology, Russian refineries lost about 41 million tonnes of capacity, or 13%, in 2024. At the same time, petrol and diesel production in Russia decreased by 20% and 11%, respectively, in the first five months of 2024.
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