Russia's Astrakhan gas plant's fuel output halted for months by drone

Russia's Astrakhan gas processing plant is likely to suspend motor fuel production for several months after sustaining drone attacks this week, three industry sources said on Tuesday.

The plant is among the world's largest gas chemical complexes.

Ukraine struck energy facilities in southern Russia with dozens of drones launched on Monday, triggering fires at a major oil refinery and gas processing plant.

The sources said a stable condensate processing unit caught fire in the attack. The unit had an annual capacity of 3 MM tonnes (t) of condensate.

Energy giant Gazprom, which controls the plant, did not respond to a request for comment.

"Everything is bad regarding the unit. The shutdown is expected to be for three months," one source said. Another source said the unit might resume operations in July, citing a preliminary assessment.

The St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange has suspended sales of diesel and gasoline from the plant, traders said.

A video posted by local governor Igor Babushkin on Monday showed an employee telling him that a condensate processing unit at the plant was damaged.

The Astrakhan plant processed 1.8 MMt of stable gas condensate, produced 800,000 t of gasoline, 600,000 t of diesel and 300,000 t of fuel oil, the industry sources said.

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