Russian drivers flock to LPG conversions as refinery strikes drain fuel supplies
Long queues at petrol stations and rising prices are pushing Russian drivers to retrofit their vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas, after Ukrainian drone strikes knocked out refinery capacity.
Conversion rush
Russian drivers are scrambling to retrofit their vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuel shortages spread across the country. Egor Popov, whose Moscow-based Garant-Gas company installs LPG equipment, said demand had multiplied.
Sergei Medvedev, who runs another conversion firm, Medvedev GBO, reported 276 calls in a single day but could only handle 30 to 40 jobs.We have a waiting list until September.
No queues, with prices 50% or two thirds lower than gasoline at filling stations.
LPG's built-in advantage
Russia is already the world's largest user of LPG as a road fuel, consuming around 3.5 million metric tons in 2024, according to the World Liquid Gas Association. Motor fuel accounted for 54% of domestic LPG consumption last year, official data show. The fuel, a mix of propane and butane, is produced during natural gas processing and crude refining and is less emissions-intensive than petrol. Even before the current price spike, LPG was cheap and abundant, making the switch an obvious choice for drivers facing hours-long queues.
Refinery strikes deepen the crisis
The shortages follow a sustained Ukrainian campaign of drone attacks on Russian oil infrastructure. This week, the Omsk refinery, Russia's largest with a design capacity of 22 million metric tons per year, was targeted in one of the longest-range strikes of the war. Governor Vitaly Khotsenko said air defences destroyed most of the drones, but the extent of damage remained unclear. On July 2, drones hit the NORSI refinery, Russia's fourth-largest, for the second time, damaging a primary crude distillation unit capable of processing 25,700 metric tons per day. Crude processing was suspended, sources said.
Queues and quiet frustration in Moscow
In the capital, queues of cars and lorries snake outside petrol stations, while others sit closed after running dry. Yekaterina, a driver, told the BBC she was "not happy" and described a sense of panic.
Elmar complained of wasting hours to fill up and questioned whether he could drive to Dagestan.Everybody thinks there will be no oil.
Valery found it strange to queue in an oil-rich country and blamed a lack of preparedness as much as the missile strikes.You are wasting hours to fill up.
Public criticism of the Kremlin remains muted, but the war is now disrupting daily life far from the front lines. President Vladimir Putin has long sought to shield most Russians from the consequences of his "special military operation", now in its fifth year, but the fuel crisis is bringing the conflict closer to home.I have no desire to get used to queues.
