There Is A Shortage Of Gasoline In Russia
- 12.05.2026, 10:53
The Ukrainian armed forces are successfully hitting the Russian oil industry.
A gasoline shortage has emerged in Russia amid ongoing Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries (refineries). In the course of exchange trading on May 8, sellers sold 32.64 thousand tons of gasoline, which is 5.9% less than the level of the previous trading day. In particular, AI-92 sales decreased by 8.9%, to 20.34 thousand tons, while AI-95 sales increased by 1.5%, to 12.24 thousand tons. At the same time, the volume of unsatisfied effective demand for AI-92 amounted to 23.46 thousand tons, while for AI-95 - 26.34 thousand tons. This follows from the data of the National Exchange Price Agency, cited by "Kommersant".
According to the publication's source in the industry, on the eve of the season of high consumption, the market has already formed a shortage of supply of AI-95. He noted that in summer the demand for this type of fuel is growing faster than for AI-92, because during the vacation season consumers use cars designed for 95 gasoline. Kommersant's interlocutor confirmed that the reason for the fuel shortage was unscheduled repairs of major refineries and reduction in production of petroleum products. In this situation, he noted, oil companies are primarily directing resources to supply their own sales structures. At the same time, refinery repairs may take more than a month, and the terms of shipment in early May have already increased on average by two to four weeks. According to the source of the publication, this situation prevents market participants from forming long-term stocks, which increases the risk of fuel shortages in the summer.
At the same time, stock exchange quotations remain relatively stable due to the current mechanism limiting the growth and decline in prices to plus 0.01% and minus 3% of the current market price. At the end of trading on May 8, the cost of AI-92 gasoline on the index of the European part of Russia increased by 0.01%, to Rb 65.99 thousand per ton, AI-95 - by 0.16%, to Rb 71.89 thousand per ton. However, over-the-counter volumes are sold at a premium of about 10% to the stock market price, but even in this channel the supply remains very limited, says a Kommersant interlocutor. "It is becoming extremely difficult to buy AI-95 on the exchange. Demand is many times - perhaps more than ten times - greater than supply," he said.
As The Moscow Times writes, Ukraine's Armed Forces (AFU) have stepped up drone attacks on Russian refineries in recent months. In April and early May, the strikes temporarily put six refineries out of service: Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez, Tuapse, Novokuibyshevsk, Syzran refineries, Permnefteorgsintez and Kinef. After that, the volume of oil refining in Russia fell to its lowest since 2009 - 4.69 million barrels per day, Bloomberg wrote with reference to OilX data.