Major Russian oil refinery complex in Bashkortostan has been hit. PHOTO
The Ukrainian Defence Forces have struck a major Russian oil refining complex, ‘Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat’ (Bashkortostan). The complex combines oil refining, chemical and gas-chemical production facilities.
This was reported by Censor.NET, citing Russian Telegram channels and OSINT communities.
Locals reported seeing smoke coming from the site on the morning of 13 August. A drone alert had previously been issued in the republic.
"Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat": what is known?
"Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat" is one of Russia’s largest oil refining and petrochemical complexes, located in the city of Salavat, Bashkortostan.
- It is part of the Gazprom group.
- The complex has been in operation since 1948 and comprises an oil refinery, a gas chemical plant and the ‘Monomer’ plant.
- Its design capacity is around 10 million tonnes of crude oil per year. However, actual processing volumes have been lower in recent years: for example, in 2022, they stood at around 6.8 million tonnes.
- It produces petrol, diesel and aviation fuel, bitumen, lubricants, polyethylene, ammonia, methanol, butyl alcohols and other petrochemical products.
It is not just an oil refinery. The plant has a full-cycle hydrocarbon processing facility and combines oil refining with large-scale petrochemical production. Its operations are therefore important both for the Russian fuel market and for the production of chemical products.
