Zelenskyy says Ukraine's refinery pause is over as fire hits Rosneft's Ryazan refinery
The International Energy Agency said Wednesday that easing Russia's diesel export limits is unlikely to materially ease a shortage that stems from refineries that are not running.
Key takeaways
A Ukrainian drone attack started a fire early Thursday at a Rosneft oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan region, Governor Pavel Malkov said on Telegram. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was resuming strikes on Russian refineries after a three-day pause.
U.S. President Donald Trump had said on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to an energy ceasefire. Neither side confirmed that agreement.
Zelenskyy, in a Financial Times interview published Thursday, said Ukraine had stopped attacking refineries for three days at Washington's request. Russia had kept hitting Ukrainian energy infrastructure, he said, so the pause was over. He told the paper:
"The block [on attacking refineries] is out. We're done."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that Moscow did not perceive that Ukraine had ever complied with the ceasefire.
Malkov wrote that crews were still assessing the damage.
"The material damage is now being assessed. Emergency services are working at the scene."
Russia's defense ministry said Ukraine attempted a large-scale attack on the refinery, and that a fire broke out after drone debris fell on the site.
The plant supplies fuel to Moscow and accounts for almost 5% of Russia's oil-refining throughput. It has been hit several times in recent months.
Last Friday, Trump said Russia had agreed to supply diesel to global markets, and his administration temporarily lifted U.S. sanctions on Russian diesel. On Wednesday a U.S. official told Reuters that Washington was considering a separate step, easing sanctions on tankers that have moved oil from Russia, Iran and Venezuela.
Reuters reported that by 3:29 a.m. Eastern time, Brent crude was down 2.2% and West Texas Intermediate was down 1.4%. PVM Oil analyst John Evans said that drop followed the Wednesday comment, and that easing the tanker sanctions could lower freight rates and make diesel shipments more flexible.
Attacks on ships in the Middle East, and Ukraine's strikes on Russian energy sites, limited the fall, Reuters said.
Global diesel exports in September were 700,000 barrels a day lower than a year earlier, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. A loss of 1.3 million barrels a day from Russia and the Middle East was only partly offset by higher supply elsewhere.
The agency said the recently announced easing of Russian diesel export restrictions was unlikely to materially alter the global diesel balance. Those are Russia's own limits on exports, not the U.S. sanctions lifted last Friday and not the tanker sanctions still under discussion. The constraint, it said in its October oil market report, is a lack of operational Russian refinery capacity.
Malkov has not said what Thursday's fire damaged, or for how long.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Ukraine end its pause on striking Russian refineries?
Zelenskyy said Russia kept hitting Ukrainian energy sites after Ukraine stopped for three days at Washington's request.
Did Russia and Ukraine agree to an energy ceasefire?
Trump said they had agreed, but neither side confirmed it, and the Kremlin said it saw no Ukrainian compliance.
How important is the Ryazan refinery?
It supplies fuel to Moscow and accounts for almost 5% of Russia's oil-refining throughput.
Will easing Russia's diesel export limits fix the global shortage?
The IEA said that easing is unlikely to materially change the balance because Russian refineries are not running.
