Russia’s largest crude processing facility, the Omsk refinery, has boosted its crude processing by 4% from January to September compared to the same timeframe last year. This information comes from Gazprom, the refinery’s owner.
Located 2,700 kilometers (1,700 miles) east of Moscow, the Omsk refinery is part of Gazprom’s oil unit, Gazprom Neft. In addition to increasing crude processing, the refinery has raised its gasoline supply to the domestic market by 5% and diesel supply by 10%, as reported by Reuters.
Last year, the Omsk refinery was responsible for nearly 8% of all crude oil refining in Russia, processing approximately 425,600 barrels per day (bpd).
Despite the increase in volumes at the Omsk refinery, many other refineries in Russia, especially those in the southwest, have experienced significant maintenance and shutdowns this year due to drone attacks from Ukraine.
This month, scheduled maintenance has also contributed to increased idle refining capacity. Russia has adjusted its expectations for idle refining capacity, raising them by 67% compared to earlier estimates due to maintenance at major refineries, according to Reuters.
Maintenance that was postponed at Rosneft’s Novokuibyshevsk Refinery and at a unit of Lukoil’s NORSI refinery has led to more capacity being offline this October. Additionally, Rosneft’s refinery in Tuapse on the Black Sea has stopped crude processing since October 1 due to low refining margins, as industry sources informed Reuters.
Overall, apart from some seasonal maintenance, many of Russia’s crude oil refining units have remained idle this year because of the ongoing drone attacks on its oil and energy infrastructure. Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries have become common, with drones being the preferred method of attack.
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