Russia's Ryazan oil refinery suspends operations after Ukrainian attack – Reuters

According to Reuters, Russia's Ryazan oil refinery, one of the largest in the country, suspended the processing of crude oil on Wednesday 29 July following a drone attack and could remain shut for up to two weeks.

Source: Reuters, citing sources

Details: Ukraine said on Wednesday that its Armed Forces had struck the Ryazan oil refinery, owned by Rosneft, during an overnight attack.

"The Ryazan refinery stopped operations on Wednesday. The shutdown is expected to last about two weeks," one of Reuters' sources said on Thursday 30 July.

Reuters notes that the refinery could remain offline for two weeks because restarting operations after an unplanned shutdown typically takes considerable time. Primary and secondary processing units must be brought back online, technological processes re-established, and product quality brought back into compliance with the required standards.

The refinery's infrastructure had previously been damaged in a drone attack on 15 May, which also forced it to suspend operations.

Despite the halt in production, the refinery continued to sell petroleum products on the St Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange as of Thursday. According to exchange data, consignments of petrol and diesel fuel were offered for sale that day.

Industry sources told Reuters that the refinery processed 13.1 million metric tonnes of crude oil in 2024, accounting for about 4.9% of Russia's total refining capacity. Last year, it produced 2.2 million tonnes of petrol, 3.4 million tonnes of diesel fuel and 4.3 million tonnes of fuel oil.

Background: On 29 July, the Russian city of Ryazan came under a drone attack. In addition to the refinery, a logistics centre belonging to Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, was also reportedly targeted.

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