International Energy Agency: Drone attacks on Russia’s refineries to mid -2026

The international energy agency said in its latest monthly oil market report that the Ukrainian drone strikes would lower the operating rates of Russian oil refineries to at least mid-2026. Kiev strengthens its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure – including refineries, pipelines and ports – in an effort to reduce the energy income of Kremlin and reduce the ability to supplement the fronts. Since the beginning of August, Ukraine has launched at least 28 attacks on large Russian oil refineries, with the attacks greater in scope, causing petrol deficiencies in various regions, including the occupied crimea. As a result, the Kremlin imposed restrictions on fuel exports until the end of the year. “We previously accepted that refinery activity would return to normal by the end of the year, but now we are taking on a more cautious prediction,” the Paris agency said on Tuesday. Also read: Russia prohibits the export of diesel to distributors and expands petrol restrictions. The International Energy Agency expects the operating figures of Russian refineries to remain below 5 million barrels per day until June 2026, and that they will later rise to 5.4 million barrels per day, with the expectations being adjusted as more information becomes available. The impact of the Ukrainian campaign on the production The agency said that “the escalating and widespread Ukrainian campaign with drones against Russian refineries and oil infrastructure reduced the processing of crude oil in the country by about 500,000 barrels per day. and the production of car fuel, which makes it difficult to assess the damage of drones. Impact of drone strikes on the operation of refineries, Russia increased its export of crude oil in September to 5.1 million barrels per day, which is the highest level since May 2023, according to the estimates of the international energy agency. Increase in revenue from crude oil supply with $ 200 million a month, but it did not compensate for the decline in the export of petroleum products by $ 440 million. In a decade, with the exception of April 2020 during the Corona Pandemic.