Russia's Saratov oil refinery halts work after March 21 drone attack, sources say

MOSCOW, March 23 (Reuters) - Russia's Saratov oil refinery was hit by a drone on March 21 and the crude distillation unit at the refinery has been shut down since the attack, sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

Ukraine's military said on Saturday it had hit the Rosneft ROSN.MM refinery. Saratov Governor Roman Busargin said that civilian infrastructure had been hit but did not give details.

According to Reuters sources, the refinery's sole crude distillation unit, which has a capacity of 20,000 tonnes per day, has been shut down since March 21.

Rosneft did not respond to a request for comment.

During a trading session at the St Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange on Monday, there were no offers for petroleum products from the Saratov refinery.

In 2024, the Saratov refinery processed 5.8 million tons of oil, which accounted for 2.2% of the total oil refining of Russia. It also produced 1.2 million tons of gasoline, 1.9 million tons of diesel fuel and 1.0 million tons of fuel oil in 2024.