The Kirishinefteorgsintez (Kinef) refinery in the Leningrad region, owned by Surgutneftegaz, has completely halted oil processing following a drone strike on August 30, Reuters reported, citing two industry sources.
The attack damaged two operating primary crude refining units: AVT-6, with a capacity of 22,860 tonnes per day (40% of the refinery's total capacity), and AT-1, with a capacity of 4,860 tonnes per day (8% of capacity). Two other units, AT-6 and AVT-2, which together account for 52% of the plant's capacity, were not operating at the time of the strike.
Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko reported a fire in the industrial zone of the city of Kirishi on Sunday morning due to the drone raid, without providing details.
Kinef is Russia's second-largest refinery by capacity, after the Omsk plant, and a key fuel supplier for St. Petersburg and northwestern regions. The plant's nominal capacity is 20 million tonnes of oil per year, with actual processing in recent years around 18 million tonnes, or roughly 7% of all Russian oil refining. The enterprise annually produces 2 million tonnes of gasoline, 7 million tonnes of diesel fuel, and 6 million tonnes of fuel oil.
This is not the first time the plant has halted operations due to drone attacks: this year Kinef already suspended work for extended repairs on March 26 and May 5. The plant has not fully recovered — in August it operated at about 50% capacity.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum that about 10% of oil refining enterprises across the country are currently undergoing repairs. He also claimed that domestic solutions for protecting refineries are "no worse than those used in the UAE," and perhaps better, while acknowledging that companies are forced to spend enormous sums on protection.