MOSCOW, March 23 (Reuters) – Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga resumed oil loadings on Monday after a drone attack alert was lifted, three sources familiar with the matter said, while neighbouring Primorsk remained shut following aerial strikes.
Primorsk and Ust-Luga, Russia’s largest petroleum export outlets, had previously both suspended exports of crude oil and fuel since Sunday following drone attacks, according to two industry sources.
The suspension adds to the global shortages caused by Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
The governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said several fuel reservoirs in Primorsk had been set ablaze after drone attacks but did not mention the suspension of oil exports.
It was not immediately clear if the port of Ust-Luga had sustained any damage.
Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, which operates both ports, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Primorsk, which is able to export more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day, is a major outlet for Russia’s flagship Urals crude and high-quality diesel.
According to sources, Ust-Luga exported 32.9 million metric tons of oil products last year, and Primorsk 16.8 million tons.
Ust-Luga handles around 700,000 bpd of oil exports.
Ukraine has regularly attacked Russian oil exporting facilities and oil refineries in an attempt to undermine Moscow’s war economy.
Ukraine’s military has confirmed it struck an oil terminal at Primorsk, as well as an oil refinery in the city of Ufa in the Bashkortostan region.
Oil loadings were also interrupted when Primorsk was attacked in September.
This month, oil exports from Russia’s largest Black Sea port, Novorossiysk, were also affected by drone attacks.
Drozdenko said 35 drones had been shot down over the Leningrad region in recent attacks, while the defence ministry said 249 drones in total had been intercepted and destroyed over Russia overnight.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Kevin Liffey and Hugh Lawson)
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