Russia’s Astrakhan gas plant halted operations after drone attack, sources say

Russia’s Astrakhan gas processing plant, controlled by energy giant Gazprom, halted production of motor fuel on September 22 after a fire caused by a drone attack, three industry sources said.

They said the blaze had engulfed a condensate production unit with a capacity of 3 million metric tons per year. It produces gasoline and diesel.

They said the plant, located near the Caspian Sea, some 1,675 km (1,040 miles) from the Ukrainian border, might only resume production in several weeks or months.

The local governor, Igor Babushkin, said on the Telegram messaging app on Monday that an industrial enterprise had been targeted by drones. He did not name the enterprise.

The St Petersburg commodity exchange halted sales of wholesale fuel parcels from the Astrakhan plant from Monday.

The plant was also hit by drones in early February, halting fuel output. Industry sources said the damaged unit had resumed operations at the end of August.

In 2024, the plant processed 1.8 million tons of stable condensate, producing 800,000 tons of gasoline, 600,000 tons of diesel and 300,000 tons of fuel oil, according to industry sources.