Russia seeks 50,000 tons of gasoline from Kazakhstan amid shortages

Russia is in talks with Kazakhstan to import about 50,000 metric tons of AI-92 gasoline, a stopgap that underscores how repeated refinery outages have pushed a major oil exporter toward imports. Industry sources said gasoline output fell to about 90,000 metric tons a day during the week of June 15 to 21, roughly 25% below the June 2025 daily average.

The squeeze has widened after drone strikes and unscheduled repairs disrupted several large facilities in central Russia. TANECO, the Tatneft-linked refinery in Tatarstan, halted crude processing on June 12 after a drone attack. Ukrainian officials said the June 12 strikes also hit the TAIF-NK refinery in Nizhnekamsk, turning damage to energy infrastructure into a direct drag on fuel supply.

Moscow has begun moving to cushion the shortage. Russia’s parliament approved amendments to the Tax Code on June 24 aimed at easing fuel shortages caused by Ukrainian drone attacks and offering subsidies on fuel imports. Russian oil firms had already received more than 716 billion rubles in state support payments in April and May as the refining sector struggled with the disruptions.

Kazakhstan has gasoline available now, but its room to help is narrowing. The Atyrau refinery is scheduled for maintenance from June 26 through July 20, which will tighten domestic supply. One possible source of fuel is the Kondensat refinery, which processes gas condensate from TANECO and has gasoline export quotas. Kondensat exported 15,207 tons of AI-92 and AI-95 gasoline to Georgia in May, showing it has some export capacity, though any shipments to Russia would likely be modest.

The talks are still preliminary. Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov said Astana had not received an official request from Moscow for gasoline supplies, even as sources described a possible barter deal in which Russia would send jet fuel to Kazakhstan in exchange for gasoline. Kazakhstan is expected to face its own jet-fuel shortfall in July, adding another layer of strain to the regional fuel balance.

The prospect of Russia importing gasoline from a neighbor in the Eurasian Economic Union is a sharp break from the country’s usual role in regional energy markets. With central Russian refineries under pressure and domestic fuel management becoming harder to balance, the shortage is exposing a vulnerability in the Kremlin’s wartime energy narrative.