Ukrainian drone hits Russia’s third largest refinery

Brent briefly traded close to $90/bbl for the first time since October after the news about Tatneft’s refinery catching fire sparked major supply concerns in the global oil market.  

PHOTO: Oil pumps with the Russian flag in the background. Getty Images

A Ukrainian drone hit Russia’s third-largest oil refiner Tatneft’s Taneco refinery yesterday, near the city Nizhnekamsk, its Mayor Ramil Mullin confirmed on his Telegram channel.

A fire was caused around Russia’s highly industrialised Tatarstan region because of the attack, Mullin said. It was extinguished soon after, state-owned media agency TASS reported. “There are no injuries or serious damage,” Mullin said.

The Taneco refinery complex has a crude processing capacity of 340,000 b/d, Reuters reported. Its primary crude processing unit with a capacity of around 155,000 b/d was hit in yesterday’s drone strike, it added.

“The market reacted strongly to a Ukrainian drone attack on an oil refinery deep inside Russia, renewing concerns that Kyiv might target Russian energy infrastructure as it did in March,” said SPI Asset Management’s managing partner Stephen Innes.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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