Russia stops publishing data on gasoline production - Energy Ministry

MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat) has stopped publishing statistics on gasoline production.

The Energy Ministry told Interfax that the decision was made to ensure petroleum product market information security.

"Given the current geopolitical situation, the disclosure of such information could be a reason for market manipulation by unscrupulous participants," it said.

Therefore, discontinuing statistics on gasoline production will make supply to domestic consumers more reliable and enhance the energy security of the country as a whole.

Data on petroleum product prices will continue to be published, the ministry said.

Rosstat last published gasoline data for April, when it said output had fallen 1.7% year-on-year to 14.4 million tonnes. Output has fallen each month, from 3.8 million tonnes in January to 3.7 million tonnes in February, 3.5 million tonnes in March and 3.4 million tonnes in April.

Fires have broken out regularly since March at Russian oil refineries as a result of UAV attacks. Incidents were reported at refineries in the Krasnodar Territory, Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan, Rostov and other regions. The damage caused gasoline production in Russia to drop but fuel production stabilized by the end of April, the Energy Ministry has said.