Reuters reported "ultra-fast" repairs of Russian refineries after drone attacks

Russia was able to very quickly restore the operation of its oil refineries (refineries) that were attacked by Ukrainian drones, reducing idle capacity to about 10% from almost 14% at the end of March, Reuters reports, citing its own calculations.

The agency estimates that total Russian primary oil refining capacity idled due to drone attacks has dropped to 90.5 thousand metric tons per day (660 thousand barrels per day) from about 123.8 thousand tons per day ( 907 thousand barrels per day) earlier.

In general, the total primary oil refining capacity in Russia, shut down due to various downtime and maintenance work, is expected to reach 4.4 million tons in April, compared to 4.1 million tons in March. As Reuters notes, Russia has adapted to the sanctions and can now quickly repair its refineries even without Western technology.

RBC sent a request to the Russian Ministry of Energy.

This year, drone attacks on oil refineries in Russia have become more frequent; in March alone, similar incidents were reported by the authorities of Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Oryol, Ryazan, Rostov, Leningrad and other regions.

Against this background, stock prices for gasoline increased in Russia in mid-March. BLOOMBERG called attacks on Russian refineries one of the factors driving up prices foroil on the world market. At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Energy noted that the situation with the supply of fuel to the regions and prices at gas stations is stable, there is no risk of an increase in the cost of motor fuel. The ministry also reported that the department, together with the Russian National Guard, is developing safety measures for the refinery.

The Washington Post, citing sources, wrote that the United States does not support Ukraine in attacks on oil refineries due to the accelerating rise in world oil prices. According to the newspaper, in February, US Vice President Kamala Harris, in a confidential conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, asked him to refrain from such attacks, but he “brushed aside this recommendation.” Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously said that Russia would prefer that the United States ask Ukraine to abandon its “terrorist activity against, first of all, peaceful social facilities and residential buildings.”