According to Rosstat, in just one week fuel production fell by 7.4%, and the work of the enemy’s largest factories was almost paralyzed. The Kremlin even had to ask Belarus for help.
The Russian Federation is facing a new problem, and it is connected with the attacks of the Ukrainian side on oil refineries. Gasoline production fell sharply. Moscow Times writes about this.
It is stated that the operations of Rosneft and Lukoil, one of Russia’s largest oil refineries, are now almost paralyzed. Last week alone, motor fuel production decreased by 7.4% to 754.6 thousand tonnes, Rosstat reported yesterday.
“A week ago, 815.3 thousand tons of gasoline was produced in Russia, and in the week from March 4 to March 10, 838.9 thousand tons of gasoline was produced. Thus, the economy lost 10.1 percent of gasoline production in three weeks. In the same period It was stated in the report that diesel fuel production decreased by 3.9 percent to 1,648 million tons.
Now, the material continues, about 14% of Russia’s primary refining capacity in refineries remains idle. Moreover, approximately 10% of these come directly from facilities producing gasoline and diesel for the domestic market.
For example, on March 13, a UAV attacked the largest Rosneft factory in Ryazan. It supplies fuel to Moscow and the region. Following the impact, two plants were immediately shut down and production was significantly reduced by a third (3.3 thousand tonnes per day). They began to produce half less diesel fuel (5.8 thousand tons per day).
Just 3 days later, the only operational oil refining unit of the oil refinery in Syzran caught fire. The same thing was recorded at the Rosneft Kuibyshev Oil Refinery over the weekend.
In this context, Russia may even begin negotiations with Belarus on gasoline imports, but these negotiations “are not going smoothly.”
“Exactly how much Belarusian gasoline will be needed is still unclear: the situation on the Russian fuel market is constantly changing, new fires are breaking out in refineries. If repairs can be completed in a short time, the fuel shortage will not be so noticeable,” a source at one of the major oil companies told Reuters companies.
Let’s remember, on March 27, the American publication The Hill criticized the claim that oil prices were likely to increase due to US President Joe Biden’s call on Ukraine not to attack Russian oil refineries.
Source: Focus
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