Ukrainian drone strikes halt operations at Russia’s Kuibyshevsk refinery, sources tell Reuters
Oil processing at Russia’s Kuibyshevsk refinery has been suspended since Aug. 28 after Ukrainian drone attacks damaged key equipment, Reuters reported, citing two industry sources.
The refinery, operated by Rosneft, saw both of its main crude distillation units — CDU-4 and CDU-5, each with a capacity of 70,000 barrels per day — taken offline in the strikes. Some secondary units were also affected, the sources said.
The halt comes just a week after the facility resumed operations on Aug. 21 following a major overhaul that had been underway since July 1. Rosneft has not commented on the incident, according to Reuters.
The Kuibyshevsk refinery, located in Russia’s Samara region, is part of Rosneft’s Samara group of refineries, which also includes the Novokuibyshevsk and Syzran plants. Both have also been targeted by Ukrainian drones this month. The Syzran refinery has remained offline since Aug. 15 due to damage, while the Novokuibyshevsk site was struck on Aug. 2.
With an annual processing capacity of 7 million metric tons of oil, or around 140,000 barrels per day, the Kuibyshevsk plant produced 4.7 million tons of crude in 2024, including 0.8 million tons of gasoline, 1.4 million tons of diesel, and 1.3 million tons of fuel oil, Reuters reported, citing industry data.
