NORSI refinery shutdown cuts 12,000 tons daily as Russia fuel crisis deepens

Ukraine's drone campaign knocked out Russia's fourth-largest oil refinery this week, removing 12,000 metric tons of daily crude processing capacity and worsening fuel shortages that have already spread across the country.

"The attack damaged a primary refining unit, CDU-5, at NORSI," two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. The unit has capacity of 12,000 metric tons a day, about a quarter of the plant's total production capability. The sources added the refinery may use other units to restart operations in the near future.

NORSI, located near Kstovo in the Nizhny Novgorod region about 450 kilometers east of Moscow, can process around 15 million tons of crude a year and produce about 5 million tons of gasoline, more than 5 million tons of diesel, 2 million tons of fuel oil and around 500,000 tons of bitumen. SPIMEX, the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange, halted diesel and gasoline sales from the refinery starting Wednesday. Nizhny Novgorod region Governor Gleb Nikitin confirmed two people were killed by falling drone debris at an industrial facility, without naming the site.

The shutdown compounds a broader energy crisis: a Moscow refinery hit twice this month by Ukrainian drones will remain offline for at least six months, two industry sources told Reuters. That facility is the largest fuel supplier to the Moscow region. Russian lawmakers on Wednesday approved tax code amendments allowing lower-quality fuel to be used in gasoline production and delaying equipment modernization at refineries, seeking to stabilize domestic supply.

Drone Campaign Intensifies Across Russia

Ukraine's military also struck the Orenburg gas processing plant and Russia's only helium plant overnight, the Ukrainian military's General Staff said. A fire was recorded at the sites and damage is being assessed. The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses had shot down 323 drones overnight across regions including Orenburg, more than 1,000 kilometers southeast of Moscow near the Kazakhstan border.

Ukraine has said its strategy of targeting Russian energy facilities with long-range drones aims to sap a key source of Russia's war funds and show Russians the conflict is no longer distant. President Vladimir Putin has called such attacks on civilian infrastructure an attempt to sow discord among the population. Both sides say they do not target civilians, though thousands of civilians have been killed in both countries.

Fuel Shortages Bite From Crimea to Moscow

Fuel shortages have been particularly acute on the Crimean peninsula, where the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol mandated early closing for public transport and cafes and said street lights would be dimmed to protect the city during overnight attacks. Ukrainian drones knocked out power in Sevastopol on Wednesday, with trolley buses halted and parents told to keep children at home.

Vehicles have been seen queuing to refuel at Rosneft petrol pumps in Rostov-on-Don, as regional filling stations face gasoline shortages due to production cuts at major refineries. The NORSI shutdown is expected to deepen these supply constraints, with the plant being Russia's second-largest gasoline producer.

The last time Russian refinery capacity was hit this hard was during the initial wave of drone strikes in early 2025, when several major plants were forced to scale back output, pushing domestic gasoline prices up 15 percent over three months. With NORSI offline and Moscow's refinery facing a six-month repair timeline, the current disruption could prove more severe, potentially forcing Russia to import refined products for the first time in years.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.