Sheshkharis, russia's largest oil terminal on the Black Sea, located in Novorossiysk, has suspended the loading of oil onto tankers due to increasingly frequent attacks by Ukrainian drones.
It was reported by Bloomberg, citing shipping data, satellite imagery, and information from vessel-tracking services.
As the agency notes, the suspension is unlikely to be related to poor weather conditions, since a storm warning in the terminal area was issued only two days after the completion of the last loading operation.
Since the beginning of the year, an average of about 650,000 barrels of oil have been shipped daily through Sheshkharis. Following the port’s shutdown, one-fifth of russia’s oil exports—which have averaged 3.6 million barrels per day this year—have been paralyzed.
The suspension of the terminal’s operations came shortly after Ukraine intensified its strikes on ships in the Black and Azov Seas.
Earlier this week, increasingly frequent drone attacks had already prevented tankers from loading oil at the nearby Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal. As a result, the CPC terminal, which exports 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil, halted operations, and Kazakhstan itself was forced to reduce production.
The day before, russian authorities warned all vessels in russia’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea that the area was dangerous due to a potential threat from Ukrainian aerial and maritime drones.
As a result, grain exports are also at risk: about one-third of all russian grain sold abroad is shipped through Novorossiysk.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, satellite images confirmed damage to the largest oil storage facility in the Caucasus following a strike on June 8 against a facility near Novorossiysk.
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