Sheskharis terminal in Russia's Novorossiysk suspends operations after drone attack – Reuters

Russia has suspended crude oil exports from the Sheskharis terminal at the port of Novorossiysk following a drone attack.

Source: Reuters, citing sources

Details: The Sheskharis terminal, which handles around 700,000 barrels of crude oil a day, is Russia's main oil export facility on the Black Sea.

Reuters noted that the suspension adds to pressure on Russia's energy infrastructure, which has been repeatedly targeted in attacks in recent months.

One Reuters source said that a tanker due to load oil at the port had headed out to sea early on Friday 15 August after a drone attack was attempted against the terminal.

As a result of the attempted attack, the port suspended oil loading and stopped accepting crude because its storage tanks were completely full.

The disruption came after a period of high export volumes in recent months. According to one Reuters source familiar with export data, oil loadings from Novorossiysk reached nearly 1 million barrels a day in July and around 800,000 barrels a day in June.

Background:

• Units of Ukraine's defence forces struck a naval base in the city of Novorossiysk, in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, damaging four Russian warships to varying degrees on the night of 11-12 August.
• The following targets were also hit: a 30N6E radar, which is part of an S-300 surface-to-air missile system; a mobile fire team on pier No 2 at the port of Novorossiysk; the tunnel portal of the Grushovaya oil depot leading to the Sheskharis terminal; and infrastructure at piers No 3, No 6 and No 7.

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