According to data from the GdeBENZ app analyzed by Izvestia, fuel was on sale at 28.1% of gas stations in the service's database as of August 16, down from 41% a week earlier. The availability of gasoline and diesel in Russia continues to decline.
Over the past week, fuel availability dropped in the Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Voronezh, Samara, Penza, Saratov, Lipetsk and Rostov regions, as well as in Tatarstan. Authorities in at least eight regions have acknowledged problems at gas stations, according to Agentstvo. In the Altai Krai and the Kaluga, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov regions, queues at filling stations were confirmed. The operational headquarters of Krasnodar Krai reported 120 non-working gas stations.
On August 17, Izvestia correspondents checked 21 gas stations in Moscow and the Moscow region. AI-92 gasoline was available at seven of them, AI-95 at six, and AI-98 at five. Diesel fuel was not available at all stations. A correspondent for The Insider said that while driving from the northeast of Moscow toward the region, he did not encounter a single gas station with gasoline. Of the ten gas stations that an RBC correspondent visited on Monday, only two were operational.
Prices at independent gas station networks in the Moscow region rose by 0.59–1.03 rubles per liter over the week, according to monitoring by the Moscow Fuel Association. The price spread for AI-92 at different stations reaches 40 rubles per liter.
This is the second wave of shortages this summer. The first began in late May and lasted about a month and a half. In late July, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the situation had stabilized, but on August 14 the Energy Ministry again reported problems. The new wave began after Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries resumed in late July. In particular, on August 11, the Orsk refinery completely shut down after a strike; according to Orenburg region authorities, restoration could take up to six months.
At least 16 Russian refineries have fully or partially halted processing over the spring and summer, The Insider notes. According to Reuters calculations, by July 10 gasoline production was covering only about 65% of seasonal demand. In response, the government banned fuel exports and began importing gasoline from abroad — the first batch from India, about 42,000 tons, arrived in Murmansk in early August, but its delivery to the domestic market was delayed due to a price dispute.
Massive retail sales of fuel below the Euro-5 class, expected by the end of August, could ease market tensions, Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote. The government is also discussing the possibility of banning exports of aromatic hydrocarbons, Kommersant reported.