Moscow Refinery Stays Offline 6 Months After Drones Hit 100% of Capacity

3 articles · Updated · The Moscow Times · Jun 24

At least six months of repairs will keep the Gazprom Neft refinery south of Moscow shut, pushing any restart into 2027, according to Reuters-cited industry sources.
Two June strikes appear to have knocked out the plant’s entire core processing base: a June 16 hit damaged a distillation unit handling 53% of capacity, and a June 18 attack likely hit the Euro+ unit covering the other 47%.
The refinery processed 11.6 million metric tons of oil in 2024, producing 2.9 million tons of gasoline and 3.2 million tons of diesel, making the outage significant for domestic fuel supply.
Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russian refineries and supply lines this spring, contributing to fuel rationing in some regions and a 6.6% rise in average gasoline prices this year to 69.11 rubles a liter as of June 15.
Russia is weighing a full diesel export ban alongside existing gasoline and jet fuel curbs, even as Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the fuel market remains challenging but under control.