An attack on the 2,60,000-barrel-per-day Perm refinery left only about 28 per cent of its crude distillation capacity operational, the report said.
The disruptions have also hit export terminals. The Black Sea accounted for about 44 per cent, or 3,80,000 barrels per day, of Russia’s diesel and gasoil exports last year, but refinery and port disruptions have reduced available volumes. No diesel cargoes have been exported from Tuapse since a May strike.
The port handled around 90,000 barrels per day in 2025, or about 10 per cent of Russia’s total diesel exports.
Russia has increasingly turned to imports to compensate for domestic refining disruptions. Its seaborne gasoline imports rose to a record roughly 1,25,000 barrels per day in August, equivalent to about 4,70,000 tonnes during the month. Around 55 per cent of the imports arrived on sanctioned vessels, while India, Turkey and Morocco were among the suppliers, according to the Vortexa figures.
Indian gasoline cargoes to Russia in August were carried on sanctioned fleets and involved ship-to-ship transfers in the Mediterranean, highlighting how sanctions, refinery outages and disrupted trade routes are reshaping refined-fuel flows.
For Europe, India’s growing importance is particularly pronounced in diesel, as it helps fill the gap left by Russia while US shipments also show signs of retreat.
The US supplied about half of Europe’s seaborne diesel imports from outside the region in August, or around 5,20,000 barrels per day, compared with about a quarter a year earlier. However, US shipments peaked at nearly 5,40,000 barrels per day in the first half of August before falling to around 3,50,000 barrels per day in the second half, a decline of roughly 35 per cent, according to the Vortexa data.
This leaves Europe increasingly reliant on Indian refiners to maintain eastern supply routes just as crude availability in India is tightening, the PTI report said.
