Russian authorities have begun rerouting fuel from the Russian regions to Moscow amid a new wave of gasoline shortages . The priority supply to the capital comes after a series of strikes on Russian oil refineries that shut down or reduced operations at at least four major refineries in August .

As reported by Censor.NET, Reuters writes about this .

Gasoline from the regions is being sent to Moscow

Industry sources told Reuters that the Moscow region is trying to compensate for the fuel shortage by redistributing supplies from eastern Russia, even as the shortage spreads again to other parts of the country.

According to the agency’s calculations, after the August attacks on refineries, restrictions on gas stations have been reintroduced by at least ten Russian regions. These include the Orenburg, Lipetsk, and Kaluga regions, which are neighboring Moscow.

Moscow accounts for about 14% of all passenger cars in the Russian Federation and 19% of road freight transportation.

Meanwhile, one of the capital’s key fuel suppliers, the Moscow Gazprom Neft refinery in Kapotny, was hit twice in June. According to the Financial Times, the plant, which supplied about a third of Moscow’s fuel needs, has been restarted, but is operating at about a third of capacity.

Problems also arose at the Ryazan refinery, one of the three largest in Russia. After the July 29 strike, the plant halted fuel production, and Reuters sources estimated the repair time would be two to three weeks.

Oil refining remains 30% below seasonal norm

In July, Russian oil refining fell to 3.5 million barrels per day, the lowest in about two decades. In early August, the figure recovered to just over 4 million barrels, but this is still about 30% below seasonal norms, according to analysts at Rystad Energy.

A Kommersant source in the fuel market believes that Russian companies will not be able to return to processing 5.5 million barrels per day by the end of the year. Moreover, in August, refinery utilization may drop to new lows.

The deficit may worsen in early autumn

Additional problems for the Russian fuel market are expected in September. The Novopolotsk refinery in Belarus, one of two Belarusian plants that supply fuel to the Russian Federation , is to be shut down for scheduled repairs . In July alone, 212,000 tons of gasoline and 162,000 tons of diesel fuel were sent to the Russian market from them.

Renovations are also planned at a number of large Russian enterprises.

Independent fuel expert Maxim Khudalov predicts that the next wave of shortages could hit the Urals particularly hard.

“In addition to the attacks themselves, there is also the factor of priority supply to the capital,” he explained. Джерело: https://censor.net/ua/n4018757

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