Russia says fuel shortage crisis begins to ease, many refineries resume operations

Russia says fuel shortage crisis begins to ease, many refineries resume operations.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak recently stated that Russia's recent fuel crisis has begun to show signs of easing as some refineries resume production. According to Russian media reports, Novak claimed: "The current situation is gradually stabilizing, and many refineries have resumed operations.

The current supply and demand balance has improved, fuel supply at gas stations has improved significantly, and fuel security for agricultural producers has also been significantly improved." However, Novak also pointed out that the fuel supply situation in some parts of Russia is still tight, especially in parts of Siberia.

"The federal command headquarters is coordinating with local governments and related enterprises to solve the fuel supply problem through a 'point-to-point' approach." He emphasized that the fuel crisis is only a "temporary" problem.

In addition, from the Black Sea coast to the hinterland of Siberia, local governments in many places in Russia have recently informed residents that fuel supplies are improving and gas station supplies have become stable.

Although gasoline purchase restrictions have not been lifted, some areas have gradually increased the gasoline quota that each vehicle can purchase. The shortage of gasoline and diesel in Russia has lasted for more than two months amid the peak demand season.

As Ukraine continued to launch drone attacks this spring and early summer, many large Russian refineries were forced to suspend production, resulting in continued pressure on domestic refined oil supply. At the beginning of this month, in order to ensure domestic supply, Russia announced a ban on diesel exports.

This move further aggravated the already tight supply and demand situation in the global diesel market. Since the spring of this year, Ukraine has continuously expanded the scope of its attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure.

In addition to continuing to attack Russian refineries and forcing them to suspend production, it has also expanded its targets to fuel transportation lines and related ships in an attempt to weaken Russia's energy supply capabilities.

Analysts pointed out that since Ukraine has recently turned more attacks on ships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, many large oil refineries that were previously attacked by drones have been given more time to overhaul and resume production. According to Ukrainian military data, more than 100 ships have been attacked by drones.

At the same time, Russia’s oil export terminals in the Black Sea have also been suspended due to attacks by Ukraine. The Sheskharis oil terminal at the port of Novorossiysk, Russia's largest Black Sea oil export hub, effectively ceased operations last week.

Just a few days ago, the adjacent Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal was also forced to close due to drone attacks, further blocking an important channel for global crude oil transportation. The suspension of shipments at CPC terminals has also forced Kazakhstan to cut crude oil production.

Crude output from Chevron's Tengiz field has reportedly fallen by more than half as storage facilities near capacity and producers have to reduce pipeline deliveries.

Ben Barry, a researcher at the Institute for International and Strategic Studies in London, said that Ukraine is constantly expanding the target range and switching between different targets to prevent Russia from predicting the next round of attacks.

This strategy increases the difficulty of Russia's defense deployment, making it more difficult to deploy air defense forces in advance and effectively intercept incoming drones and missiles.

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