Drone strikes mini-refinery in Russia's Kaluga region: reports

A Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow, has set a small refinery on fire and damaged its fuel stores, according to the local administration and Russian news agencies.

Russia's RIA Novosti and other local media reported the 24,000 b/d First Plant 'mini-refinery' caught fire after a drone was downed over the site, igniting three diesel tanks and one fuel oil container.

The region's local governor Vladislav Shapsha confirmed via Telegram May 10 that a drone strike triggered a fire at an "enterprise" in the Dzerjinsky region, which has now been extinguished. He didn't specify the plant targeted.

As a small mini-refinery, First Plant processes small volumes of crude and gas condensate, supplying only feedstocks including fuel oil and distillates. According to RIA Novosti, some 60 cu m of diesel storage and 6 cu m of fuel oil was destroyed by the strike on its storage tanks.

The plant was previously targeted by drone strikes March 15, when four drones were downed over the site and a pipe was set alight.

As the latest in a series of attacks on the week, the incident highlights a persistent security threat for Russia's energy infrastructure, as the scope of oil production assets targeted has expanded.

On May 9, Gazprom's 200,000 b/d Salavat refinery, located some 1,300 km from the Ukrainian border, was hit by a drone, expanding the proven strike radius a further 200m into Russian territory.

As a result, the nearby Ufa and Taif refineries, together accounting for 610,000 b/d capacity, could now be at risk of attack, placing over 80% of Russia's refining capacity within striking distance. In Ufa, upstream assets including heavy crude production at the Arlanskoye and Yugomashevskoye fields could also become targets, in what would be a further escalation to Ukraine's drone warfare.

While the frequency and intensity of Ukrainian strikes have progressively increased since April 27, analysts expect outages to be mitigated by speedy turnaround times in Russia and utilization of spare capacity.

Despite a hit to Salavat's fluid catalytic cracker, local governor Radii Khabirov has insisted that impact of the strike will be minimal, anticipating repairs to be completed "within two to three days" and no impact on production.