Russia's Tuapse oil refinery, which sells most of its products for export, halted operations following a Ukrainian drone attack on April 16, two industry sources said on Tuesday.
Ukraine has increased attacks on Russia's energy infrastructure as the US, which had brokered peace talks to stop the conflict with Russia, has shifted its focus on the war in Iran. The US has also eased some sanctions on Russian oil to help reduce the impact of supply disruption in the Persian Gulf.
According to Russian officials, attacks on April 16 and April 20 on the city of Tuapse on the shores of the Black Sea, damaged transport infrastructure at the port and set oil product storage on fire.
The sources, who could not be named because they were not authorised to speak to the press, said the refinery was halted because the fire at the port made it impossible to ship its production. They declined to say when operations could resume.
Rosneft, which owns the refinery, did not reply to a request for comment.
Tuapse oil refinery with production capacity of around 12 million tonnes per year, or 240,000 barrels per day, produces naphtha, diesel, fuel oil and vacuum gasoil.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Barbara Lewis)
