Desperate for Fuel, Russia Looks to Kazakhstan for Refining Capacity
Desperate for Fuel, Russia Looks to Kazakhstan for Refining Capacity Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline bypasses… What I Cover Julianne Geiger is a veteran energy journalist and market analyst with more than a decade of experience covering the global oil and… Russia is running short of undamaged oil refinery capacity, and it’s looking to Kazakhstan for help.
Kazakhstan said Thursday that it is in talks with Moscow to process Russian oil at Kazakh refineries, sell some of the resulting fuel domestically, and send a portion back across the border to Russia.
No volumes, commercial terms, or refineries have been named.
Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said market participants would decide where the products go.
For Kazakhstan, Russian crude would help keep its refineries running at stable rates while adding fuel to the domestic market.
It would export crude, pay a neighbor to refine it, and then import the gasoline or diesel it can no longer reliably produce at home.
Ukraine has spent months attacking Russian refineries, storage sites, export terminals, and other oil infrastructure.
The latest round included the Omsk refinery, Russia’s largest, located deep in Siberia near the Kazakh border.
The damage has created fuel scarcity in several Russian regions and pushed Moscow to make aggressive moves to control the market.
On Thursday, the governmentextended its restrictions on gasoline and diesel exportsthrough January 31, 2027, after just last week it described the diesel ban as a temporary measure it would lift once supplies recovered.
Kazakhstan has already started supplying some refined products to Russia.
Processing Russian crude would expand that workaround, although the ministry has not said how much spare capacity Kazakhstan has or how much fuel could be returned.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
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