- These shortages have led to rationing, long queues, and record price increases, prompting Russia to seek fuel imports from countries like India and Belarus.
- The crisis highlights the growing strategic importance of Africa’s expanding refining capacity, particularly Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery.
- Supplying fuel to Russia from Africa faces barriers such as sanctions, shipping costs, and regulatory approvals.
- Russia has begun importing gasoline from India due to fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian attacks on its refineries.
The crisis has triggered rationing, long queues at filling stations and record gasoline price increases across Russia’s 11 time zones, forcing Moscow to seek fuel from other countries
For African oil producers such as Algeria, Angola, Nigeria, Libya and Egypt, Russia’s fuel crisis could open a new window for countries with active refineries, as global markets seek more secure supplies after US-Iran tensions and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz reshaped fuel trade
That possibility has gained attention because Russia, one of the world’s biggest energy producers, is now turning to foreign fuel imports to ease domestic shortages, an unusual step for a country that normally relies on its own refining system
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Meanwhile, Russia has not traditionally depended on African crude, but its worsening fuel shortages could make Africa’s oil producers and refiners more strategically important as Moscow seeks supply through direct purchases or alternative refining routes, while sanctions pressure complicates access to Venezuelan and Iranian oil networks
According to Reuters, at least 60,000 metric tonnes of gasoline have been dispatched from India to Russia, citing an industry to 40,000 tonnes each had been sent
Separately, a thirdvarious countries each month, including neighbouring Belarus, which has already been exporting fuel to Russia
The Kremlin also confirmed that Russia was in contact with other countries and was discussing fuel imports at acceptable prices
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The fuel crunch follows months of Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, including refineries, depots and fuel terminals
Kyiv has described the strikes as part of efforts to weaken Moscow’s military logistics and pressure Russia to end the war
President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged the disruption, saying “problems persist for both motorists and businesses,” and “there are still queues at petrol stations, and finding the right grade of petrol isn’t always easy.”
He, however, insisted the shortages are “not critical” and “temporary.”
In Crimea, pressure has been sharper, with reports showing gasoline prices in Sevastopol rose 30% in one week as Ukraine targeted Russian supply lines in the peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014
Gov. Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea, said petrol would be reserved for state needs
“Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea,” Aksyonov said. “I ask everyone to remain calm and to only trust official
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia’s energy infrastructure
He also mocked Moscow’s struggle, saying “Putin can go on and on, claiming on TV that he supposedly has everything under control,” but Russians can see the war “has reached the point where even an oil state — a gas station, as Russia used to be called — is now facing gas shortages.”
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Russia’s fuel crisis has drawn attention to Africa’s expanding refining capacity, led by Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery, the continent’s largest refinery, which is being expanded from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day, far above Russia’s largest refinery, Omsk, which processes about 425,000 barrels per day
The refinery has become an important outlet for African and global fuel supply, especially as disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider energy market pressures force countries to rethink supply security
Business Insider Africa reported that Europe has seen record jet fuel inflows from Nigeria and the United States after Gulf imports were disrupted, with markets such as the UK and the Netherlands among the key European destinations
Beyond Nigeria, other operational refining centres in Africa include Algeria’s Skikda refinery, one of Africa’s largest refineries on the northern coast, Egypt’s refinery network and Angola’s Luanda refinery
Angola also has the new Cabinda refinery, a $470 million facility now exporting fuel oil and naphtha, while Libya’s refining assets and South Africa’s Sasol-linked operations add to the continent’s wider refining base
This wider refining base matters because Africa’s oil trade is already tied to major global buyers, with Libya supplying European markets such as Italy and Spain, Angola heavily linked to Chinese demand, and Algeria’s light crude serving Mediterranean and European refiners
Any move to supply Russia, however, would depend on sanctions exposure, shipping costs, product specifications, payment channels, insurance cover and government approvals
Even so, Algeria’s deep diplomatic, military and energy ties with Russia give Moscow one of its strongest links to Africa’s energy sector, backed by 2024 exports that included petroleum gas, crude petroleum and refined petroleum worth a combined $43.45 billion