The head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, informed Vladimir Putin of an "unprecedented number of damages" to Russian oil refineries as a result of Ukrainian strikes and proposed a series of measures to stabilize the fuel market of the Russian Federation. This is reported by UNN citing Moscow Times.
Details
According to the published information, Sechin sent a letter to Putin at the end of May, in which he described the situation in the oil refining industry after attacks by Ukrainian forces on Russian energy infrastructure facilities.
In particular, the head of Rosneft proposed temporarily canceling the mandatory exchange sale standards for gasoline and diesel fuel of the "Euro-5" standard until the full restoration of damaged refinery capacities.
In addition, Sechin advocated for increasing the volume of sales on the exchange of lower-quality fuel produced under simplified standards. This concerns enterprises that were previously allowed to produce fuel of the "Euro-3" standard instead of "Euro-5".
The head of the largest Russian oil company also proposed obliging oil-producing companies to direct at least 30% of extracted oil for domestic refining.
The letter notes that about 80% of fuel buyers on the exchange are intermediaries and traders. According to Sechin, end consumers of fuel should receive priority access to purchases.
Against the backdrop of intensified Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refining, the situation on the domestic market of the Russian Federation continues to deteriorate. According to the National Exchange Price Agency, from June 1 to 19, gasoline sales on the exchange decreased by more than 22%.
In turn, analysts at Energy Intelligence note that the volume of oil refining in Russia at the beginning of June fell below 4 million barrels per day - this is the lowest figure in the last 21 years. According to their estimates, almost a third of all Russian oil refining capacities are idle.
Against this background, restrictions on fuel sales have already been introduced in more than 50 regions of the Russian Federation, including the temporarily occupied Crimea, as well as parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine.
Ukraine's campaign against the Russian energy sector has caused extensive damage, as a result of which the country is moving towards the worst fuel crisis in its history