Fire at Ufa Oil Refinery Extinguished, Caused by Technical Malfunction

A fire that broke out on Monday at the Ufimsky oil refinery, one of Russia’s largest, was caused by a technical malfunction and has been fully extinguished, according to Russia’s emergency ministry. Despite the incident, operations at the facility remained unaffected, though it is unclear if production was briefly halted during the blaze.

The refinery, owned by Bashneft and located about 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) east of Ukraine’s border, has a processing capacity of 168,000 barrels per day, with crude oil primarily sourced from western Siberia and the Bashkiria region, according to LSEG data. Bashneft’s press service informed Interfax that the fire did not impact the main production units.

According to the regional emergency ministry, initial investigations indicate that the fire started near a furnace due to technical issues. Bashkortostan’s leader, Radiy Khabirov, ruled out any evidence of drone involvement, as reported by Interfax, and confirmed that production was continuing as usual.

Earlier assessments from the emergency ministry reported that air quality around the refinery remained within safe limits, with no hazardous substance levels exceeding permissible thresholds.

Efforts to contain the blaze involved approximately 100 firefighters, who managed to extinguish it by around 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT).

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