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Exports of Russian refined oil products by sea fell by 7% in October compared to September, due to an increase in idled refining capacity because of maintenance, Reuters estimates based on data from industry sources showed on Wednesday.
Russia’s oil product shipments dropped to 8.861 million metric tons last month, with exports from the country’s Baltic Sea ports down by 4.5% compared to September and shipments from the Black Sea ports down by 12.6%. Shipments from the Arctic ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk plummeted by 41.5% in October from the previous month, according to the data collated by Reuters.
Russia had a lot of its refining capacity offline in September, due to regular and unscheduled maintenance. This led to lower refined products output and consequently, to lower shipments from the key export terminals.
Moreover, the Tuapse oil refinery on Russia’s Black Sea coast, owned by oil giant Rosneft, suspended fuel production at the 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant in October due to low refining margins. The export-oriented refinery halted crude processing on October 1. It reportedly resumed output earlier in November.
The Tuapse refinery mostly exports its production of naphtha, high-sulfur diesel, fuel oil, and vacuum gasoil to Turkey, China, Malaysia, and Singapore. It doesn’t contribute to Russia’s domestic supply of gasoline or diesel.
The halt of the refinery, due to low margins, helped raise the idled refining capacity across Russia in October.
The Tuapse refinery has also been a target of Ukrainian drone attacks this year, which have caused damage at the site.
As a result of the lower volumes of exports, Russia’s revenues from seaborne oil product exports slumped by 14% in October from September, according to the monthly analysis of Russian fossil fuel exports published by Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Russia earned $187 million (176 million euros) per day in October from seaborne oil product exports, CREA has estimated.
