Strike disrupts Novorossiysk oil loading
A strike forced the Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk to suspend operations and temporarily halt loadings, according to regional reports. Multiple outlets say the halt lasted for a time this week before loadings resumed several days later, and that the incident fits within a wider set of attacks on Russian energy nodes. (militarnyi.com; straitstimes.com)
Crude loadings at Russia’s Sheskharis terminal in Novorossiysk stopped after a drone strike and fire hit the Black Sea export hub this week. (usnews.com) Two sources told Reuters the suspension followed the overnight April 5-6 attack, and the port had not yet assessed the full extent of the damage when loadings were halted. Russian authorities said drones hit facilities at Novorossiysk’s marine transshipment complex. (usnews.com; themoscowtimes.com) By April 10, oil and fuel oil loadings had partly resumed from one berth, according to people familiar with port operations, and one tanker was expected to lift 80,000 metric tons. Bloomberg reported a tanker had moored at the terminal after several days of disruption. (logistics.maritimeprofessional.com; bloomberg.com) Sheskharis typically loads about 700,000 barrels of crude a day and is Russia’s main oil outlet on the Black Sea. A stoppage there interrupts one of the country’s largest seaborne export routes, even when the halt lasts only a few days. (usnews.com; ukrinform.net) The strike also landed in a port area tied to Kazakhstan’s exports. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal near Novorossiysk handles about 80% of Kazakhstan’s crude exports, and Russia said a separate attack damaged one of its loading points and storage tanks. (yahoo.com; straitstimes.com) Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said shipments through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium were stable after the attack. Ukraine’s military, meanwhile, said it had struck oil loading facilities at Sheskharis, while Russian officials blamed Ukraine for the wider Novorossiysk attack. (yahoo.com; themoscowtimes.com) The shutdown was not the first at Sheskharis this spring. Reuters reported that an earlier attack in early March also forced the terminal to stop loadings for five days. (ukrinform.net) The Novorossiysk disruption came as attacks on Russian energy infrastructure widened beyond the front line. Reuters also reported that Russia’s Baltic port of Ust-Luga had suspended oil exports after separate drone strikes and fires. (yahoo.com) By the end of the week, the immediate effect was narrower than the first shutdown suggested: ships were moving again, but only part of the terminal was back in service. That left Novorossiysk operating below normal at one of the most important oil gateways on the Black Sea. (logistics.maritimeprofessional.com; bloomberg.com)
