Bloomberg, citing shipping data, satellite imagery, and vessel tracking services, reported that no tankers had been loaded at the Sheskharis terminal in Novorossiysk port since Tuesday morning.
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According to Bloomberg, it is unlikely that the suspension of operations was due to bad weather, as storm warnings in the region were issued only two days after the terminal’s last loading operation.
These disruptions are the latest sign that Ukraine’s expanding drone campaign is increasingly affecting Russia’s energy export infrastructure. This follows recent attacks that also disrupted operations at the nearby Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) export terminal and forced Kazakhstan to reduce oil production.
In the first seven months of this year, the Sheskharis terminal exported an average of about 650,000 barrels of oil per day. With Russia’s average seaborne oil exports reaching about 3.6 million barrels per day this year, the suspension of the terminal’s operations effectively halted about a fifth of the country’s total oil exports.
Earlier this week, intensified drone activity prevented tankers from loading crude oil at the nearby CPC terminal, which handles about 80% of Kazakhstan’s oil exports. The disruptions forced the terminal to halt operations, leading Kazakhstan to begin reducing oil production.
On Thursday, Russian authorities warned all vessels operating in the country’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea that the area is unsafe due to the potential threat of Ukrainian air and naval drones.
This warning also raised concerns about Russian grain exports. Approximately one-third of Russia’s grain exports pass through Novorossiysk, making it the country’s most important grain export hub.
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