The Russian government is preparing an urgent meeting with representatives of the country’s largest oil companies due to the situation on the fuel market, where prices have risen by almost 50% since the start of the year.

The Russian government is preparing an urgent meeting with representatives of the country’s largest oil companies due to the situation on the fuel market, where prices have risen by almost 50% since the start of the year.

Source: The Moscow Times, citing Russia’s Interfax news agency

Details: Russian oil executives say the key factor behind the rise in petrol prices has been “incidents at oil refineries”, referring to Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refineries. Since early August, five major oil refineries have been hit by drones, with three of them fully or partially suspending production.

The meeting will address measures to prevent retail petrol prices from rising above the inflation rate. At present, fuel prices at Russian petrol stations are 11% higher than last year, while the overall consumer price index is up by 8.2%. Interfax sources report that petrol is becoming more expensive in Russia because there are almost no reserves left on the independent market.

Interfax says the Russian authorities are considering radical measures to “cool” the fuel market, including introducing directive exchange prices: “If quotations rise by more than 10% from the beginning of the month, the starting price for the trading day will be rolled back to the level at the start of the month”.

Background:

On the night of 10 August, drones attacked an oil refinery in the Russian city of Saratov, Saratov Oblast, sparking a major fire. Air defence systems were also reported to be active, with explosions heard in several other Russian regions.Rosneft oil refineries hit by Ukrainian drones in early August have been taken out of service for a month.

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