A Russian oil products terminal in the town of Ust-Luga near St. Petersburg will run at half capacity in September due to pipeline damage.
Novatek’s Russian oil export terminal about 110 kilometers from St. Petersburg is expected to operate at roughly 350,000 barrels per day — about half of its usual throughput — after pipeline infrastructure was damaged in Ukrainian drone attacks, two industry sources told Reuters.
The situation in Ust-Luga worsened after drones struck the Unecha pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region in early August. Unecha is a key transit point for crude headed to Ust-Luga.
The disruptions have also affected gas supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, which serves Belarus, Slovakia and Hungary. Slovakia said on August 28 that initial flows through the pipeline had resumed in test mode.
The sources did not specify which pipeline was damaged but said repairs are under way, with no clear timeline for full restoration.
According to the sources, reduced throughput at Ust-Luga will redirect some oil volumes to the Russian ports of Primorsk and Novorossiysk, potentially limiting export losses.
Russian authorities have not publicly commented on the extent of the damage or its impact on export schedules.
Transneft, the state pipeline monopoly that operates Russia’s pipelines and the oil terminal, declined to comment.
Reports of attacks on a Novatek facility in Ust-Luga surfaced alongside news of flight delays at Pulkovo Airport on August 24.
Throughout August 2025, Ukraine’s defense forces carried out more than 10 successful strikes on Russian oil refineries. Two or three major facilities reportedly remain on the target list.
