Take action: authorities plan to increase fuel storage capacity
Russia intends to increase fuel storage capacity at oil refineries. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak instructed industry regulators and oil companies to work on this issue, Izvestia learned. Their joint proposals should be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers by the end of March 2026. Experts note that the creation of an additional fuel storage system at refineries can increase the sustainability of the country's fuel supply during periods of local shortage. However, the implementation of such projects will require significant investments and time.
What is the essence of the instructions
Additional fuel storage facilities at refineries may appear in Russia. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak instructed industry regulators and interested oil companies to work on this issue. This was told to Izvestia by two sources familiar with the minutes of the meeting on fuel supply issues, which was held in the government at the end of 2025.
According to one of them, the Ministry of Energy, Rostechnadzor, the Ministry of Transport and oil companies should work out proposals for creating "a storage system for the required amount of fuel reserves, the number of overpasses (structures at refineries and oil depots that provide oil products to railway and tanker trucks. — Ed.), indicating the sources of financing, as well as measures to encourage the creation of such a system." They must submit the results of this joint work to the Cabinet of Ministers by the end of March 2026.
A second interlocutor familiar with the contents of the protocol said: Alexander Novak also instructed the Ministry of Energy and the Federal Antimonopoly Service to work out and submit proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers that would oblige oil companies to send at least 40% of the extracted oil volumes for processing and supply fuel produced from this raw material to the domestic market.
Oil production by the end of 2024 amounted to 516 million tons, its primary processing — 266.5 million tons, gasoline production — 41.1 million tons, diesel — 81.6 million tons, Alexander Novak reported.
According to Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of VMT Consult, about 37-38 million tons of gasoline and 44-45 million tons of diesel fuel are consumed on average in Russia per year.
— In fact, the oilmen are already fulfilling their task. As for the expansion of fuel storage capacity, this problem has been discussed for several years," the expert noted.
She recalled that in 2022, Vagit Alekperov, co-owner of Lukoil, warned the government about the risk of shutting down oil refining due to overcrowded oil product storage facilities. According to him, against the background of sanctions, companies faced difficulties in exporting fuel, which led to the accumulation of excess volumes at factories.
— In 2025, the problem was of a different nature. Due to unplanned repairs, the domestic market faced a shortage of gasoline. Additional capacities are needed to hedge such risks," Ekaterina Kosareva noted.
Izvestia sent a request to the office of Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Transport, Rostechnadzor and major oil companies.
What is the volume of fuel reserves in the country?
The volume of reserves, or rather the amount of commercial grade motor fuel that is in refineries, is not a constant value, it varies depending on many factors, explained Alexander Frolov, Deputy Director General of the Institute of National Energy.
— I believe that in this case we should talk not only about the amount of gasoline and diesel fuel at refineries, but also about the development of a network of oil depots or, as they are also called, fuel terminals, — he said.
In general, according to the expert, based on empirical indicators, gasoline and diesel fuel reserves, depending on the season and without taking into account special areas of use, should be enough for two to four weeks of use in the domestic market, excluding current production. In absolute terms, Infotech estimates that this is about 2 to 3.5 million tons per species.
Dmitry Kasatkin, Managing Partner of Kasatkin Consulting, shares the same opinion.
— Fuel reserves in Russia can be estimated at about 2 million tons of gasoline and 3 million tons of diesel, which is equivalent to two to three weeks of consumption insurance, but a significant part of these volumes is located outside the refinery sites - in logistics and oil depots. There is significantly less storage directly at the plants," he noted.
At the end of 2025, Alexander Novak stated in an interview with Rossiya 24 TV channel that "fuel reserves in the Russian Federation are higher now than last year."
The last time their size was reported was in early June last year. Then Anton Rubtsov, director of the Department of the Oil and Gas Complex of the Ministry of Energy, said that the domestic market was fully supplied with automotive fuel. According to him, gasoline inventories at refineries and oil depots reached 1.8 million tons, and diesel fuel storage volumes amounted to 3.3 million tons.
But, as practice has shown, this was not enough, Ekaterina Kosareva noted.
Stock prices for motor fuel on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange accelerated sharply at the end of July, and in August, the quotations of AI-95 and AI-92 updated their highs since the fall of 2023. There was a shortage of gasoline in a number of regions at that time.
How much will it cost to build new storage facilities
At the end of 2025, the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, submitted to the government his proposals on measures to support the development of the domestic motor fuel market. In particular, he proposed to introduce an obligation for gas station owners to maintain a monthly supply of petroleum products.
— This measure is effective, but not all gas station owners can afford it, especially independent market participants. There are a number of issues here, from sources of financing to technical regulations that regulate the allowable storage volumes for different gas stations. For example, for those located in the city or on the highway, — Ekaterina Kosareva notes.
Nevertheless, according to Tamara Safonova, Director General of the Independent Analytical Agency for the Oil and Gas Sector (NAANS-Media), tank farms for storing gasoline and diesel fuel are currently located at refineries, in the Transneft system, at oil depots, sea and river terminals, as well as at gas stations.
— In general, the existing infrastructure in Russia allows for a continuous process of receiving, transporting, storing, draining, filling oil products, and shipping to end users, — said the expert.
According to her, in 2023, during the period of maximum production in Russia of 44 million tons of gasoline and 88 million tons of diesel fuel, there was no shortage of tank farms for uninterrupted supply to Russian consumers and export supplies. Ekaterina Safonova believes that mobile fuel residues at refineries will be able to support fuel supply in the country during local shortages, but this will not solve the issue of complex saturation of the gasoline market if production volumes lag behind the level of consumption in the country.
In turn, Dmitry Kasatkin believes that it is quite realistic to increase storage by 0.5–1.5 million tons, which will provide up to a week of demand coverage.
— If we are talking about a more significant increase of more than 2 million tons, then investments will be higher due to the scale of investments in related infrastructure — logistics, site, energy and security. For the market, this will help reduce the likelihood of supply crises, while for companies it means additional expenses and frozen working capital. Investments can be estimated at 60-100 billion rubles per 1 million tons of storage capacity," the expert estimated.
Oil companies will obviously ask for preferences in return, Ekaterina Kosareva believes, as companies are currently investing in repairs to their plants. According to her, the discussion on this issue will only begin in 2026, so it is not worth waiting for the rapid expansion of fuel reserve systems at domestic refineries.
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