russia’s largest oil refineries halt operations
Oil refineries in southern russia are increasingly forced to halt operations. In November of this year, downtime at russian refineries nearly doubled compared to planned levels.
The primary reason for this downtime is the inability to perform scheduled maintenance due to a lack of necessary equipment and components caused by Western sanctions.
For instance, the volgograd refinery, one of the ten largest in russia, has partially shut down. Similarly, the ilsky and yaysky refineries are currently facing partial shutdowns. Additionally, production at the nizhny novgorod refinery of the state-owned Lukoil, the fourth-largest in russia, was down for four months at the beginning of the year due to an inability to source imported parts.
Notably, most large russian refineries were built or modernized with significant involvement from European and American companies. Despite russian propaganda’s repeated claims about the “ineffectiveness” of sanctions, the restrictions resulting from russia’s war against Ukraine are delivering a severe blow to russian oil refining industry. This impacts not only russia’s military capabilities but also agriculture, related industries, and the overall welfare of its population.
