Ukraine launched an overnight drone attack on Wednesday against infrastructure in Novorossiysk, home to Russia's key oil terminal on the Black Sea, killing four people and reportedly sparking a fire at a fuel oil terminal at the port.

Ukrainian drones struck buildings in and around Novorossiysk early on Wednesday, according to the city's mayor, Andrey Kravchenko, who said on his Telegram channel that four civilians were killed and civil infrastructure was damaged.

Robert "Magyar" Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), confirmed that Ukrainian forces struck the naval base in Novorossiysk on the night of September 8–9, destroying Russian military vessels, including missile carriers.

The overnight attack also set a fuel oil terminal in Novorossiysk ablaze, Ukrainian media reported, citing social media channels.

The same harbor thus holds both a Russian naval base and oil export infrastructure, putting military assets and crude shipment flows side by side at a single Black Sea location.

Repeated Strikes on a Strategic Black Sea Gateway

Over the past year, Ukraine has repeatedly targeted and struck Russia's principal Black Sea oil port as it aims to stifle Russian oil exports and the revenue they generate for the Kremlin.

Several of those attacks inflicted damage severe enough to force the temporary suspension of oil loadings at Novorossiysk and at the nearby export terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which handles Kazakh crude for shipments from the Black Sea.

The 1,500-kilometer CPC pipeline transports crude from Kazakhstan's giant Tengiz oilfield across southern Russia to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and carries more than 80% of Kazakhstan's crude exports. International producers, including Chevron and ExxonMobil, rely on the route to move Tengiz production to global markets.

With that history in mind, the immediate question after the latest strike is whether loadings at Novorossiysk and the CPC terminal continue as scheduled or whether operators again halt shipments while damage is assessed — an outcome that would touch both Russian export volumes and Kazakh crude transit.

Ust-Luga Attacks and Refinery Strikes Deepen Russia's Fuel Crisis

Ukraine has also frequently targeted Russia's key northern port of Ust-Luga, the country's top Baltic Sea gateway for exports of oil and other commodities. In one of the latest strikes last week, a massive Ukrainian drone attack on the Ust-Luga oil export terminal sparked a fire at the site, as Kyiv continues to hit Russian refineries and energy export infrastructure.

In addition, Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries—including facilities deep inside Russian territory—have created a fuel crisis in Russia, which has extended its ban on diesel exports until the end of September, further tightening the global middle distillate market.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

Source: OilPrice.com