Novak Says Attacks Targeted 4 Russian Processing Plants Amid Uncertainty Over Samara Refinery
Key Facts
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on October 30 that attacks targeted 4 processing plants, including 3 refineries and a gas and chemicals complex, and that one plant sustained minor damage. Novak did not name the targeted facilities or the damaged plant, leaving the location of the damage unclear. In Samara, the governor said civilian infrastructure facilities had come under attack by drones whose number he described as a record, but he did not mention the Novokuibyshevsk refinery or the reported fire there. Fire Point and monitoring channels reported strikes and a fire, but the refinery was not independently confirmed to have been hit. The Washington Post said the extent of the damage to the facility was unclear.
The Novokuibyshevsk refinery is part of Rosneft’s Samara refineries group, which the company says it acquired in May 2007. According to company data, the refinery began operating in 1951 and has primary distillation capacity of 8.8 million tonnes a year. Its products include motor, aviation and diesel fuels, making it part of Russia’s refining network supplying petroleum products to the domestic market and foreign destinations. Industry sources cited by Reuters say Russian refineries increased crude processing in the second half of October to about 5 million barrels per day. That represents an increase of about 25% compared with the start of the month, after repeated attacks paused for a period.
Reports of new attacks come after a period of recovery in refinery activity, while earlier reports indicate that strikes on facilities affected Russian fuel supplies. Reuters reported that drone attacks since mid-March caused local fuel shortages, prompting authorities to ban exports of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel and to begin importing petroleum products by sea. According to the International Energy Agency, some of Russia’s 32 refineries had been attacked as many as 15 times since the start of the war. The agency added, according to the Associated Press, that successful strikes had occurred once every 3 days in recent months. It also said diesel output had fallen by about 30%, and waits to refuel with gasoline had reached 40 hours.
Novak said the government was preparing to extend the diesel export ban until the end of January 2027, with specific exceptions for supplies to global markets. At the same time, he forecast that Russia would export 510,000 tonnes of fuel in October and about 2.15 million tonnes in November. These figures reflect the export plan announced by the Russian official alongside his remarks about extending the ban, without details on the exceptions or the decision’s effect on shipment volumes. In the U.S. diesel futures market, the front-month ultra-low-sulfur diesel contract at the New York Harbor settled at $4.6633 a gallon on October 30. It settled at $4.5875 a gallon the previous day; these are futures prices, not prices at fuel pumps.