Transneft warned of possible oil output cuts after Ukrainian drone strikes damaged key infrastructure, deepening pressure on Russia’s energy sector, according to Reuters.

Russia’s state oil pipeline monopoly Transneft reportedly warned producers that they may have to reduce output after a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on critical export ports and refineries, according to three industry sources cited by Reutes.

Transneft handles more than 80% of all oil extracted in Russia and operates over 70,000 kilometers (43,000 miles) of trunk pipelines.

Two industry sources close to Russian oil firms told Reuters that Transneft has restricted oil firms’ ability to store oil in its pipeline system in recent days.

The sources also claimed that the company has warned producers that it may have to accept less oil if its infrastructure sustains further damage.

A third source familiar with oil pumping operations confirmed to the agency that Ukrainian attacks could force Russia, which controls 9% of global oil production, to ultimately cut output.

Transneft refuted the allegations in a statement on its website, saying: “The appearance of such fake news with reference to some unnamed sources in the Russian fuel and energy complex causes damage to the image of PAO Transneft.”

“It can only be caused by the attempts to destabilize the situation within the framework of the information war unleashed by the West against the Russian Federation,” it continued, according to Reuters.

Ukraine has persistently targeted Russian energy infrastructure including oil refineries, fuel depots, terminals, pumping stations and export ports in order to degrade a major component of Moscow’s war-economy revenue.

Over the past decade, oil and gas revenues have contributed between one-third and one-half of Russia’s total federal budget proceeds, cementing the energy sector as the most critical pillar of state financing.

Kyiv believes that targeting oil industry infrastructure could expedite the Kremlin’s willingness to negotiate an end to the conflict, particularly as frontline breakthroughs remain slow and attritional.

Western sanctions have also placed a pronounced emphasis on crippling Russia’s oil and gas sector, but Moscow responded by redirecting the majority of its oil exports toward Asian markets, with India and China emerging as principal purchasers.

Ukrainian drone strikes have targeted at least 10 Russian oil refineries, at one stage reducing refining capacity by almost 20%.

This month alone has seen a spate of effective attacks on Russian oil refineries, deepening Moscow’s fuel crisis after it imposed a total ban on gasoline exports.

In the early hours of Sept. 16, Ukrainian special operations forces hit a major oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov oil refinery, which processes millions of tons of crude annually.

Over the weekend, Ukrainian drone attacks hit an oil refinery, sanctioned oil tankers and the seaport in which they were moored along with a fuel train in St Petersburg.

Drone attacks reportedly temporarily shut down operations at Primorsk, Russia’s largest oil-loading port on the Baltic Sea which acts as a key hub for the country’s “shadow fleet” of tankers used to bypass sanctions.

On Sept. 7, Ukrainian forces struck the Vtorovo oil pumping station in Russia’s Vladimir region, with satellite images seeming to show damage to at least two tanks.

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/60258