London (Reuters) – The Russian operator of Oleoducs Transneft warned oil producers that they may be forced to reduce their production following Ukrainian drone attacks on export ports and refineries, three sources in the sector said on Tuesday.

In a press release published on its website, Transneft denounced a lie in an “information war” carried out against Russia by Westerners.

Kyiv has intensified his attacks on Russian energy infrastructure since early August while peace talks are stopped.

At least ten refineries have been affected, which has reduced Russia’s refining capacity to almost a fifth, and the main ports of Oust Louga and Primorsk, on the Baltic Sea, were damaged, according to Ukrainian military and Russian sources.

The Russian authorities have made no comments on attacks as well as their impact on production and exports.

Transneft, which manages more than 80% of oil extracted in Russia, has however restricted in recent days the capacity of oil companies to store oil in its oil pipeline network, two industrial sources close to Russian oil companies have told Reuters.

The Russian public company also warned producers that it could be forced to accept less oil if its infrastructure underwent new damage, the sources added.

Drone attacks could push Russia, which represents 9% of world oil production, to reduce its production, said both sources and a third source close to pumping operations that have all required anonymity.

“The appearance of such false news referring to certain anonymous sources of the Russian energy and oil complex is involved in the image of Transneft,” the Russian company said in a press release.

“This can only be the result of attempts to destabilize the situation in the context of the information war launched by the West against the Russian Federation,” she added.

Limited export capacities

Friday, drones struck the port of Primorsk for the first time, an important oil outlet on the Baltic Sea. Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said the attack caused “significant damage”.

Normally, more than a million barrels of oil can pass through Primorsk every day, or more than 10% of the total production of Russia.

Reuters could not verify the extent of the damage caused by the strikes. Two oil tankers, the Kusto and the CAI Yun, were affected by the Attack at Primorsk, said industrial sources, adding that export operations only partially resumed on Saturday.

The Russian oil export capacities are already limited, the neighboring port of Oust louga still working in slow motion after an attack of drones against a pipeline in August. According to sources in the sector, the port only operates at half of its capacities.

Under an agreement concluded by the organization of oil exporting countries and its allies (OPEC+), the Russian production quota was to increase in September to 9.449 million BPJ against 9.344 million BPJ in August.

JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs analysts, who have in -depth knowledge of the raw materials markets and have been following them for years, say Moscow can hold this goal.

“Russia’s ability to increase its oil production is now threatened due to a limited storage capacity,” said JP Morgan analysts in a note.

Analysts of the two banks do not say, however, to expect a significant drop in Russian oil production, the demand for Russian gross remaining high, especially in Asia.

(Written by Reuters, Tangi Salaün and Blandine Hénault)

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