In the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, they announced a shortage of gasoline faced by residents, in particular the administrative center of Chukotka – the city of Anadyr. This was reported by the Russian news agency “Interfax” with reference to the government of Chukotka.
According to authorities, the shortage of fuel allegedly occurred due to the reconstruction of the only filling station in Anadyr.
But in “Chukotsnab”, which is the only supplier of fuel, in particular, to the city of Anadyr, they say that we are talking about a shortage of gasoline. And it will last at least until the summer.
“Demand significantly exceeded expectations. Unfortunately, we could not predict. In this regard, Chukotsnab is forced to suspend the sale of AI-95 to the population until the start of navigation in 2023 [до третьей декады июня]”, – said the director of Chukotsnab.
And about the size of the deficit, one can draw conclusions from the statement of Chukotsnab that the demand for gasoline in the region has allegedly increased by 30% since October 2022.
However, there are also doubts whether the beginning of navigation will save the region from the deficit.
So, this week, the head of Lukoil (one of the largest Russian oil companies, the second in terms of oil production in Russia. – Ed.) Vagit Alekperov warned of a possible shutdown of refineries in Russia due to the fact that Russian oil is less buyers in the world.
Since March, Russia has already limited oil production by 500,000 barrels per day.
However, excess barrels continue to pile up in depots and reservoirs that are nearly depleted, and shutting down refineries could be the next forced step, Alekperov said.
According to the results of March, 1.5 million tons of fuel oil remained unclaimed in Russia, which obviously led to the filling of available storage facilities, says Oleg Zhirnov, director of the investment and capital markets department at the international audit company KPMG.
The tank farm at refineries and oil depots is quite limited, he says, and not all tanks are suitable for storing fuel oil, since the use of heaters and additional thermal insulation is necessary.
Recall that these events in the Russian economy are taking place against the backdrop of numerous fires at oil depots and refineries. Tank farms began to burn in Russia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. And similar fires continue to this day, and this happens throughout Russia, regardless of the remoteness of the region from the hostilities in Ukraine.
Here, for example, looked like the scale of some fires.
June 22 fire at the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in the Rostov region.
On November 27, one of the largest oil refineries in Russia caught fire in the Irkutsk region.
January 4, a fire at the Antipinsky Oil Refinery in Tyumen – one of the largest in Russia.
February 7, at an oil refinery in the city of Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region.
Map of Russian refineries as of 2022.
