From Kholod, Sept. 25, 2025, https://holod.media/2025/09/25/rossiyu-nakryl-toplivnyj-krizis/. Complete text:
The fuel crisis in Russia is deepening. This week, one in 50 gas stations in the country stopped selling gas. Residents in some regions are complaining about rising prices and fuel shortages, while the government appears to be understating the scale of the problem.
The fuel shortage has resulted in fewer gas stations operating in Russian regions. From July 28 to Sept. 22, their number decreased by 2.6%, totaling 360 locations, writes Kommersant, citing data from the analytics company OMT-Consult, which also noted that the lack of gas is much more acute in some [of Russia’s] constituent entities.
In southern Russia, gas has disappeared from about one in six gas stations, while in the annexed Crimea and Sevastopol, the number of gas stations with gas has been halved. The government of annexed Crimea reported a reduction in supplies of gas to the peninsula, citing decreased production at several oil refineries, bad weather that blocked the Kerch [Strait] crossing and other logistical problems.
In addition to regions in the Southern Federal District and Crimea and Sevastopol, significantly lower supplies of gas were recorded in Rostov Province, the Mari El Republic and the Jewish Autonomous Region. There, the number of stations selling gas decreased by 12%-14%. Disrupted gas supplies were also reported by the governors of Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod Provinces.
Even residents of Moscow and its suburbs have started noticing the gas shortage. For example, some Lukoil gas stations banned selling gas in containers and even stopped accepting fuel cards. Supply interruptions also affected Leningrad and Ryazan Province, among others. In some regions, according to Kommersant, each customer could only be sold 10 liters to 20 L of fuel.
Record-breaking prices.
The country’s fuel shortage has also been reflected in the exchange price for gasoline. Prices for AI‑92 [regular] gasoline hit new highs three days in a row. On Sept. 24, one [metric] ton of this grade cost 73,680 rubles on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, up 0.05% for the day. AI‑95 [mid-grade] gas rose slightly more, by 0.27%, reaching 79,390 rubles per ton. At the same time, the price of diesel decreased 0.20% to 72,060 rubles per ton.
Fuel prices are also rising because of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, believes Igor Yushkov, an expert with the Russian Federation Government Financial University and the National Energy Security Fund. He added that the cost of repairs after drone attacks are ultimately rolled into the price of gas.
“When active strikes against oil refineries started happening, we saw a panic on the market. Many people noticed the prices rising, and many resellers started buying up petroleum products, creating additional speculative demand on the exchange. That only pushed prices higher,” the expert explained.
In addition, he recalled that excise taxes on gas and diesel were raised by 14.5% and 16% on Jan. 1. “That’s a pretty significant excise tax hike, and it is effectively baked into the price of every liter of gas and diesel. So the growth of excise taxes is accelerating and the exchange situation is pushing prices up,” Yushkov continued.
Russia was caught unprepared.
Russia’s gasoline output has decreased by about 10% due to routine maintenance and “incidents,” a market participant who wished to remain anonymous told Kommersant. He did not give specific examples, but was most likely referring to Ukrainian drone strikes.
According to the paper, in January Russia was producing 123,600 tons of gasoline per day on average. In the first half of August, however, this figure stood at 102,200 tons and, in September, at 110,000 to 112,000 tons.
Market players cite exhaustion of independent sellers’ reserves as the reason for the current gas shortage.
Experts, in turn, say that large oil companies are purposely forcing independent players out of the Russian market by concentrating supplies to their own gas station chains and keeping prices below wholesale.
According to OMT-Consult, only 0.8% of gas stations affiliated with major oil companies have stopped selling gas, compared to 4.1% of independent gas stations.
Analysts at OMT-Consult warned that there is a risk that the shortage will deepen because oil refineries and oil depots are concentrated in the western part of the country and private chains are highly dependent on regular supplies. According to them, independent operators are more vulnerable to price volatility and logistics problems.
Pathways to a solution.
The Russian authorities are admitting there is a problem with gas shortages, but cite seasonal changes as the reason.
“Naturally, as part of their routine operations, the Energy Ministry is working together with the Transportation Ministry, Russian Railways and oil companies to increase both production volumes and supplies to the domestic market. This means that currently there is indeed a small shortage of oil products, which is being covered by accumulated reserves,” Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said.
For its part, in the next few days the Government is expected to extend the complete ban on gasoline export through the end of 2025 for all market participants. This is not a planned decision, since initially the authorities intended to resume gasoline exports in September or October. A similar decision has also been made for diesel exports.