Russia’s Orsk refinery was shut by technical issue before Ukraine drone attack: Sources

Russia’s mid-sized Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery was shut down on November 10 due to a fire, a day before Ukrainian drones attacked it, three industry sources said on Thursday.

One of the sources said equipment caught fire on Monday during upgrade work. The sources said the drones attacked the plant, located some 1,900 kilometers (1,180 miles) east of the border with Ukraine, on Tuesday.

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Ukraine’s military also said it struck the Russian oil refinery, which is located in the city of Orsk in the Orenburg region, on Tuesday.

The industry sources said the drone damaged some of the plant’s utility systems. Forteinvest company, which owns the refinery, did not respond to a request for comment.

Ukraine this year unleashed wave after wave of drone attacks deep into Russia aimed at knocking out refineries, depots and pipelines, striking Moscow’s biggest source of funding for the Ukraine conflict.

Orsk refinery’s nameplate capacity stands at 5.76 million metric tons per year, or around 115,200 barrels per day.

According to the industry sources, last year it processed 4.2 million tons of crude oil, producing 1.8 million tons of diesel, 600,000 tons of gasoline, 500,000 tons of bitumen and 200,000 tons of fuel oil.

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