Russian refinery halts output after drone strike knocks out two key units

Reuters, citing two industry sources, reported that the Perm refinery of Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez (PNOS) completely stopped oil processing after the Ukrainian drone strike on August 21. The attack caused a fire and damaged process units, including the AVT-4 primary refining unit with a capacity of about 14,000 tonnes of crude per day, which accounts for nearly 40% of the plant's capacity. Preliminary estimates suggest its restoration could take one to two weeks.

This is not the first disruption at the plant. On July 29, after another strike, the AVT-5 unit, which provides 34% of PNOS capacity, was halted. Together with AVT-4, these two largest units now account for about 72% of the plant's capacity and are out of service.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on August 21 said a strike had hit the refinery in Perm. NASA FIRMS satellite monitoring service recorded two fire hotspots on the plant's territory that same day. Russian authorities said they repelled the drone attack but did not comment on the consequences for the refinery.

In 2024, the Perm refinery processed about 12.6 million tonnes of oil, producing 2 million tonnes of gasoline, 5.3 million tonnes of diesel fuel, 700,000 tonnes of petroleum coke, and 200,000 tonnes of fuel oil.

PNOS became the fifth Russian refinery to halt fuel production in August due to drone attacks. Earlier this month, Orsknefteorgsintez of Forteinvest, the country's largest petrochemical complex ZapSibNeftekhim of Sibur, and the Saratov and Volgograd refineries also stopped operations.

By July 20, The Insider had counted 16 Russian refineries that fully or partially halted processing after attacks in 2026. Plants with a combined capacity of more than 45 million tonnes of oil per year had not yet returned to selling fuel on the St. Petersburg exchange at that time.

Since late May, Russia has been experiencing a fuel crisis. In the week from August 10 to 15, at least six regions reintroduced or tightened limits on gasoline sales, and by August 16, according to the user service GdeBENZ, gasoline and diesel were available at only 28.1% of Russian gas stations. In response, Russian authorities banned fuel exports and began incentivizing imports. In August, Russia expected to receive nearly 270,000 tonnes of oil products from Asia, about a third of which originated from India.