Russia Set To Slash Diesel Exports In September

Amid refinery maintenance and rising domestic fuel prices, Russia is set to cut its diesel exports from its ports on the Baltic and Black Seas by nearly 25% in September compared to the export plans for August, Bloomberg reported on Friday, quoting industry data it had seen.  

The shipments of diesel out of Russia’s western ports, including some exports from Belarus, are planned at 1.874 million tons in September, or 466,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from about 600,000 bpd planned for August exports, according to Bloomberg’s calculations.

The plan for diesel exports in September lays out the lowest shipments since May this year when spring refinery maintenance was in place.

Now the autumn refinery maintenance is also slashing diesel exports out of Russia.  

The primary oil refining capacity that will be offline in Russia is set to soar by 44% in September compared to August amid seasonal maintenance, according to Reuters estimates based on data from industry sources.

As much as 4.635 million metric tons of Russia’s refining capacity is expected to be offline this month, industry sources have told Reuters.

Russia’s authorities are also recommending refineries curb exports and sell more fuel domestically to meet local demand, but the recommendation is not legally binding, according to Bloomberg.

Lower diesel shipments overseas would mean lower export revenues for Russia, which continues to earn billions of U.S. dollars each month from exports of crude and products.

Russia’s crude oil and refined products exports remained steady at some 7.3 million bpd in July, while higher oil prices and narrower price differentials for Russian crude pushed Moscow’s revenues higher compared to June, according to estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its market report in August. Russia’s export revenues, at $15.3 billion in July, rose by $2.5 billion from June, but they were $4.1 billion lower compared to July 2022, the agency’s estimates showed.   

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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