Ukrainian Drone Attacks Disrupt Key Russian Oil Export Route

By Alex Kimani of Oilprice.com

An overnight attack by Ukrainian drones on Russia’s Andreapol oil pumping station, part of the oil export route via the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, has forced oil flows to stop, Bloomberg has reported. The attack also hit a Russian missile storage facility, causing a string of explosions. Ukraine has stepped up drone strikes on Russian military and energy facilities in recent weeks as the third anniversary of the war approaches. Ust-Luga port is one of the main ports used by Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers.

Russia’s oil shipments via the Baltic Sea declined 10% over the final four months of 2024 due to the impact of EU sanctions against Russian oil and gas exports, the Finnish Border Guard has reported. Finland’s Coast Guard monitors the shadow fleet that Russia uses to export crude via the Gulf of Finland.

„In the last four or five months of last year, we saw a roughly 10% decline in the amount of oil leaving from Russia,” the Finnish Border Guard’s Head of Maritime Safety Mikko Hirvi told Reuters late last week. „That is of course very good, but on the other hand, older vessels have been added to the traffic on the Baltic Sea at the same time. The vessels in operation are in worse condition than before,” he added, saying it’s difficult to determine whether the decline will only be temporary.

Last month, the Biden administration announced the harshest sanctions yet on Russian oil. Reuters reported that a purported U.S. Treasury document circulating among traders in Europe and Asia, revealed that some 180 vessels, several senior Russian oil executives, dozens of traders and two major oil companies are targeted by the sanctions.

Later, it emerged that the Biden administration targeted Surgutneftgas and Gazprom Neft, two firms that handle 25% of Russian oil exports. The two companies shipped an average of 970,000 bbls a day in 2024.