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One of Russia’s largest oil refineries partially shuts down after Ukrainian drone strike

Source: Reuters

A Ukrainian drone strike in the early hours of May 20 knocked out the main crude distillation unit at the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, the Reuters news agency reported, citing two industry sources familiar with the situation.

The shutdown of CDU-6 will sharply cut the plant’s output. The unit accounts for 53% of the facility’s total processing capacity.

Lukoil did not comment on the Reuters report.

“Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez” is Russia’s fourth-largest oil refinery and second-largest gasoline producer. It can process 16 million tons of oil per year, or about 320,000 barrels per day.

Ukrainian drones struck the city of Kstovo in the early hours of May 20. Media outlets and Telegram channels reported a fire at the refinery; authorities did not confirm this.

The Kstovo refinery suspended operations for the second time since early April. The facility sustained damage as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack in the early hours of April 5.

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