Russia’s second-largest oil refinery, located in the city of Kirishi in the Leningrad region, has yet to resume fuel shipments following a strike by Ukrainian drones on May 5.
This was reported by Astra, citing its sources.
The facility in question is Kirishinefteorgsintez, where, according to reports, all primary oil refining units have been put out of commission. Surgutneftegaz, the company that owns this refinery, has notified its counterparties of the suspension of the refinery’s shipments of petroleum products due to “damage to technological facilities caused by external factors.”
This is stated in a letter sent to the St. Petersburg International Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange. The document also mentions the occurrence of ‘force majeure circumstances’ that prevent the fulfillment of contractual obligations.
According to an Astra source, the refinery has effectively been out of operation since late March following the first attack. At that time, the plant was only partially and briefly restarted.
“After the March attack, the plant effectively shut down. This was reported almost nowhere, except by Bloomberg… We had just finished the repairs when a new strike occurred on May 5. A document regarding this situation has been in my inbox for a week now (since May 8),” the source noted.
The publication’s source stated that the latest strike damaged all primary processing units, as well as the oil pipeline, storage tanks, and the plant’s main gatehouse.
“They destroyed all the primary processing units. In addition, the oil pipeline, storage tanks, and the main gatehouse were damaged. It took several months to restore the largest unit. We had just started shipping again — and on May 5, there was another attack,” the source said.
The strike, following which the Kirishinefteorgsintez refinery halted shipments of petroleum products, occurred on the night of May 5. It caused fires at various locations within the facility. Later, the SSU confirmed the attack on the plant in the Leningrad region. On the same day, Reuters reported that the oil refinery in Kirishi had halted operations after being struck by drones.
The struck refinery
Kirishinefteorgsintez is one of the largest oil refineries in Russia. The facility specializes in oil refining and the production of petroleum products: gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, jet fuel, and others.
Its annual capacity is 20.1 million tons of oil. The distance from the plant to the Ukrainian border is approximately 790 km.