The US allegedly called on Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, as this could raise global oil prices and provoke attacks on Ukrainian energy in response.
This was reported by the Financial Times (FT)with reference to three sources.
According to the interlocutors, requests-warnings from Washington were repeatedly sent to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Main Directorate of Intelligence (known as GUR).
The White House has grown increasingly frustrated with "brazen" Ukrainian drone attacks that have hit refineries, terminals, depots and storage facilities across western Russia, damaging its oil production capacity, one source said.
The USA is also concerned that in response to further attacks by Ukraine on Russian facilities, the Russian Federation may attack the energy infrastructure important for Western countries. In particular, this is the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which transports oil from Kazakhstan through Russia to the world market.
A representative of the National Security Council said that the US "does not encourage and does not allow attacks inside Russia."
Former CIA analyst Helima Croft recently noted that Ukraine has shown it can strike most of the oil and gas infrastructure in western Russia, putting about 60% of the countryʼs exports at risk.
- At the end of last week, another oil refinery caught fire in Russia as a result of a drone attack. This is the second time that a Russian oil facility has been hit by an unmanned aerial vehicle, due to which oil processing in Russia is reduced. In particular, on March 13 in Ryazan, Russia, an oil refinery caught fire after a drone attack. Before that, drones attacked a refinery in the Nizhniy Novgorod region and an oil depot in Oryol. At the same time, the oil refinery of the Lukoil company in the Nizhniy Novgorod region lost part of its capacity due to the attack.
- There were also attacks on the oil depot in Klintsy, Bryansk region, the Rosneft oil refinery in Tuapse, the oil terminal in Ust-Luz, and the Slavnafta-YANOS oil refinery in Yaroslavl. Also, on February 3 , drones attacked Volgograd Lukoil. Against this background, the exchange prices for gasoline AI-92 and AI-95, as well as for summer diesel fuel, have increased by 8-23% since the beginning of the year.
- However, Russia still remains one of the worldʼs largest exporters of energy resources, even despite Western sanctions on its oil and gas sector. At the end of last year, it was reported that Russiaʼs monthly income from oil exports is now greater than it was before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In October 2023, net income from Russian oil reached $11.3 billion, which is 31% of the total income of the Russian budget for the month. This is a record figure since May 2022.