Ukrainian drone strikes have disabled roughly 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity, causing disruptions to shipments from key Baltic and Black Sea ports, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Reuters described the shutdown as the ‘most severe oil supply disruption’ in modern Russian history, occurring against the backdrop of tightening global energy markets due to the war in Iran.
Shipments at Primorsk and Ust-Luga, Russia’s two biggest Baltic ports, were halted once again after a second drone strike this week caused fires and damaged port infrastructure.
Reuters reported that the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, which can handle around 700,000 barrels per day, has fallen behind its loading schedule following drone strikes earlier this month.
Russia’s pipeline exports to Hungary and Slovakia have been effectively suspended since January due to damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline running through Ukraine.
The disruptions have taken roughly 40% of Russia’s oil export capacity—around 2 million barrels per day—offline as of Wednesday.
The outages have also caused a backlog of tankers anchored offshore. Ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic shows that at least 50 vessels are currently in the Gulf of Finland headed for Primorsk or Ust-Luga.
According to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, smoke from the fire at Ust-Luga—home to 33 fuel storage tanks with a combined capacity greater than 500 rail tank cars—has been visible from Finland, extending for dozens of kilometers along the Gulf’s coastline.
Oil and gas exports remain the crucial source of income for the Russian economy.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the European Commission postponed a long-awaited proposal that would permanently ban Russian oil imports, a decision influenced by supply disruptions linked to the conflict in the Middle East.
ENERGY INDUSTRY | EU Delays Proposal to Ban Russian Oil Imports Amid Energy Crisis
