Russia’s Astrakhan gas processing plant, controlled by energy monopoly Gazprom, temporarily halted production of motor fuel on 22 September after a fire caused by a drone attack, three industry sources told Reuters news agency.
They said the blaze engulfed a condensate unit with an annual capacity of 3 million metric tonnes. It produces petrol and diesel.
They said the plant, located near the Caspian Sea, about 1,675 kilometres from the Ukrainian border, could resume production in just a few weeks or months. “Gazprom had not responded to Reuters’ request for comment at the time of publication.”
22 In September, Igor Babushkin, the governor of the Astrakhan region, said a Ukrainian drone attack on the region, with an “industrial facility” as its main target. He did not specify the name of the enterprise.
As Reuters adds, the St Petersburg commodity exchange has suspended the sale of bulk fuel from the Astrakhan refinery since Monday.
The refinery was also hit by a drone strike in early February, halting fuel production. Industry sources told the agency that the damaged plant resumed operations in late August.
According to Reuters, the refinery processed 1.8 million tonnes of stable condensate, producing 800,000 tonnes of gasoline, 600,000 tonnes of diesel and 300,000 tonnes of fuel oil in 2024.