Ukrainian drones bring russia's largest oil refinery to halt after strike on Omsk

The Omsk Oil Refinery suspended operations following a Ukrainian drone attack that took place the day before.

Reuters reported this, citing its own sources.

According to the agency’s sources, the Ukrainian strike damaged the CDU-10 crude oil refining unit. A fire broke out after the unit was hit. This unit accounts for about 38% of the refinery’s production capacity.

In addition, the refinery shut down the CDU-11 unit, which processes about 24,000 metric tons of crude oil per day, accounting for another 37% of the Omsk Refinery’s capacity.

What capacity remains in reserve?

Reuters sources note that the CDU-11 unit may be restarted in the near future.

The refinery also has two idled primary crude oil processing units:

• CDU-7 — with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons per day;
• CDU-8 — with a capacity of 10,000 metric tons per day.

If necessary, they can be brought back online.

Why the Omsk Refinery is important to russia?

The Omsk Refinery is owned by Gazprom Neft and is russia’s largest oil refinery. Its design capacity exceeds 21 million metric tons of crude oil per year.

According to Reuters sources, in 2024 the plant:

• processed 22 million metric tons of crude oil;
• produced 5 million metric tons of gasoline;
• produced 8 million metric tons of diesel fuel.

The Omsk Oil Refinery is located approximately 2,500 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, making it one of the most remote russian facilities to come under attack by Ukrainian drones.

As a reminder, on July 6, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked an oil refinery in the Omsk Oblast of russia, the aggressor country. This facility is located nearly 2,500 kilometers from Ukraine’s state border.