Overview
- Late July drone attacks on the Sheskharis/Novorossiysk complex forced operators to suspend tanker loadings for several days before a partial restart.
- The terminal has reopened under constrained conditions, with daytime-only movements, single-berth use and covert ship movements that reduce visible throughput.
- Novorossiysk is a major export chokepoint: June loadings there reached about 1.1 million barrels per day, of which roughly 840,000 bpd went to Indian refiners.
- Analysts link the strikes and operational limits to an estimated roughly 400,000 barrels per day drop in Russian crude exports in July, tightening supply for buyers.
- The disruption could push buyers to draw inventories, shift cargoes from other suppliers or use alternate routes such as Saudi east–west pipeline flows, and it may keep upward pressure on global oil prices.