Half of Russia's Top Diesel Refineries Cut Output After Drone Strikes
Impact of Drone Strikes on Russian Diesel Production and Global Markets
MOSCOW, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Half of Russia's six top diesel-producing refineries were forced to significantly cut back or completely halt output in September due to damage sustained in drone attacks, according to Reuters calculations based on data from fuel market participants.
Global Repercussions and Political Reactions
Russia's fuel crunch was underscored by U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, when he called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to stop targeting Russian diesel infrastructure, saying the attacks were causing a shortage of the fuel that is "hurting the world".
Ukraine, which faces regular Russian attacks on its own energy infrastructure, says refineries are legitimate military targets.
The U.S. national average price for diesel, which is used by trucks, trains, ships and farm equipment, rose above $6 a gallon for the first time on Thursday, according to price tracker GasBuddy, an unwanted dynamic for Trump ahead of November's midterm elections.
Moscow's Response and Export Restrictions
Export Limitations and Domestic Pressures
MOSCOW FORCED TO RESTRICT EXPORTS
Diesel is widely used in the agricultural sector, which was already under pressure in the U.S. before the Iran war, facing a fourth straight year of shrinking margins in the face of resurgent drought, high input costs and fallout from Trump's trade policies.
The conflict in Iran has undermined global fuel supply, while Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia's refineries in recent months have led to a decline in fuel production in the country and forced Moscow to restrict exports of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Key Refineries and Production Impact
According to the market-sourced data, six plants — the Omsk refinery, Kirishi, Taneco, Volgograd refinery, NORSI and Perm — account for about half of Russia's diesel production.
Kirishi has been fully shut down, while the Volgograd refinery and NORSI are operating at about one-quarter of their nameplate capacity, according to sources.
Diesel production at those plants is several times lower than normal levels. Taneco was attacked by drones on Sunday, but sources said it was not yet possible to assess the consequences of the attack.
Frequency and Scale of Attacks
IEA Analysis and Export Data
ONE RUSSIAN REFINERY HIT EVERY THREE DAYS, IEA SAYS
According to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, in the first eight months of 2026, a Russian refinery was successfully hit on average every three days.
Export Volumes Before and After Restrictions
Russian diesel exports before the restrictions were introduced amounted to less than 1 million metric tons in June, according to traders' estimates, while combined exports of diesel and gasoil totalled about 1.8 million tons.
A year earlier, when refineries were operating normally, diesel exports stood at about 2.5 million tons per month, or 3.3 million to 3.4 million tons including lower-quality gasoil.
Turkey and Brazil had been the largest buyers of Russian diesel for many months, taking at least half of available cargoes before the restrictions came into force in July, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Jan Harvey)
