Russia’s oil fields 96% depleted, while investors flee and Ukraine strikes refineries

[Starmix]

According to the report, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service has reported that Russia has about 13.2 billion tons of economically viable, proven oil reserves, enough for roughly 25 years of production, according to Euromaidan Press media outlet. Russian oil remains a key source of revenue that funds its military aggression against Ukraine. In 2025, profits from the oil and gas sector account for about 77.7% of Russia’s federal budget. Ukraine’s intelligence notes that over the next 10–15 years, the potential for further exploration of existing fields in Russia will be exhausted. Limited funding and a lack of technology to develop hard-to-reach, geologically complex, and remote regions undermine Russia’s energy and economic security, casting doubt on the long-term stability of its oil and gas sector.

The report also said that earlier, Euromaidan Press reported that Ukraine disabled 17% of Russia’s oil refining capacity through a wave of recent drone strikes targeting key infrastructure. Reuters calculated that Ukraine’s strikes have taken out 1.1 million barrels per day of Russian oil refining capacity. The drones targeted 10 plants, including Lukoil’s Volgograd refinery and Rosneft’s facility in Ryazan. Other damaged refineries include those in Rostov, Samara, Saratov, and Krasnodar regions. In addition to oil refineries, Ukrainian drones attacked the Druzhba pipeline and Novatek’s Ust-Luga export terminal and gas processing complex on the Baltic Sea. The Syzran refinery in Samara Oblast was critically affected — key equipment was destroyed, rendering it unable to function. Afipsky in Krasnodar Krai and the facility in Novokuybyshevsk were also hit. The attacks, carried out over the past month, have disrupted fuel processing, sparked gasoline shortages, and hit the core of Moscow’s war economy as Washington seeks to broker a peace deal. According to Sergei Vakulenko of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, the damaged plants have lost only part of their output, but even limited disruptions can impact supply. He previously worked for Gazprom Neft.

 

[gwolf666]

I think this report makes clear how fragile the Russian economy could be in the medium and long term. Relying almost entirely on oil and gas is a double-edged sword, because any external shock directly affects its stability. The attacks on the refineries show that even small disruptions can have a major impact. Personally, I believe that if this situation continues, Russia will have increasingly less room to sustain its war and its economy.

 

[Starmix]

The attacks, carried out over the past month, have disrupted fuel processing, sparked gasoline shortages, and hit the core of Moscow’s war economy as Washington seeks to broker a peace deal. According to Sergei Vakulenko of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, the damaged plants have lost only part of their output, but even limited disruptions can impact supply; with this, Russia suffers a lot this time. Some of them no longer report to work, no vehicles, no fuel.