port of Taman will stop transshipment of liquefied gas due to the threat of drone attacks – Kommersant

An export terminal in the Russian port of Taman is preparing to stop transshipment of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to tankers due to the threat of attacks on infrastructure, reports Reuters citing three industry sources. Russian Railways has limited the transportation of LPG to Taman since May 31, the operator of Kazakhstani railways is introducing a similar measure from June 6. The operator of the reloading complex, Tamanneftegaz, refused to comment on Reuters data for Kommersant.

The interlocutors of the agency specified that the decision was made after the drone attacks on the Afipsky and Ilyinsky oil refineries in the Krasnodar Territory. “Taman is stopping the transshipment of LPG because it is dangerous after all these attacks – the gases are the most explosive,” one of the sources told Reuters.

Conservation of transshipment is planned for an indefinite period. Market participants, according to the agency, are already exploring other routes for the supply of LPG. “Most likely, those volumes that are now in the port and on the way will be transferred to ships, and in the future the transshipment will be suspended,” the source said.

Reuters industry sources estimate that the port of Taman accounts for about 7–8% of all Russian LPG exports in 2023, as well as about 20% of foreign LPG supplies from Kazakhstan. “The Russian resource will most likely go to Poland or to the domestic market, where prices are now quite high, or to China through Zabaikalsk,” one of the Reuters sources said.

Unmanned aerial vehicles attacked the Afipsky and Ilyinsky oil refineries on the night of May 31, 2023. At the first facility, a fuel oil processing plant caught fire, and at the second, the fire was avoided. According to the operational headquarters of the region, there were no casualties as a result of the incident.

More about this – in the publication “Kommersant” “Drones flock to the oil”.

Grigory Leiba