“The Kirishinefteorgsintez (KINEF) oil refinery in the Leningrad oblast suspended oil processing due to a UAV strike on the night of March 26”, - the Telegram channel “The Moscow Times” reports, citing Reuters.
At the plant, with a capacity of up to 20 million tons per year and ranked second in russia by oil refining volumes, a fire broke out and both main units — AVT-4 and AVT-6 — were damaged. The timeline for their restoration remains unclear, Reuters sources said.
KINEF, which last year accounted for 7% of all oil refining in russia and produced 2 million tons of gasoline, 6 million tons of fuel oil, and 7 million tons of diesel, is halting production for the third time in the past six months due to UAVs. In September last year, it lost 40% of its capacity due to a fire at one of its units, and then again partially suspended output in October, the report states.
The plant, owned by Surgutneftegaz, became the second russian refinery to shut down this week. On March 21, the Saratov refinery of Rosneft stopped accepting oil, where, as a result of a drone attack, the only primary processing unit was put out of operation, the report says.