Russia's Perm oil refinery halted operations after August 21 drone attack, sources say

The Perm oil refinery, Russia's seventh-largest oil ​processing plant by volumes, stopped operations ​following a Ukrainian drone ‌attack, which ​caused fire and damage to technological units on August 21, two industry sources said on Monday. Ukraine has stepped ‌up attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure, including oil refineries, in recent months to undermine Moscow's war efforts and cut its financial income.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday ‌that Ukraine's military hit a Russian oil refinery in the city of Perm. Numerous ‌Russian regions have reported fuel shortages due to the strikes on the refineries and a robust seasonal demand.

Sources said that the primary CDU-4 unit, which accounts for almost 40% of the plant's ⁠capacity, ​was halted on ⁠August 21. It is able to process 14,000 metric tons of oil per day. According to preliminary ⁠estimates, the repair works could take between one and two weeks.

Another primary refining unit, ​CDU-5, which accounts for 34% of the plant's capacity, has been idle since ⁠a July 29 drone attack, according to the sources. The plant also has two more crude distillation ⁠units, ​CDU-1 and CDU-2, each of which accounts for 14% of the plant's capacity.

Lukoil, which controls the refinery, did not reply to a request for comment. The ⁠plant, located 1,460 km (907 miles) northeast of Moscow, processed some 12.6 million tons, or ⁠252,000 barrels per ⁠day, of oil in 2024.

It produced 2 million tons of gasoline, 5.3 million tons of diesel, 200,000 tons of fuel oil ‌and ‌700,000 tons of petroleum coke.