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Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have increased purchases of Russian oil products, Russia’s trade representatives to these countries said at the National Oil and Gas Forum.
Russia significantly increased exports of oil products, primarily diesel and fuel oil, to Saudi Arabia in 2022, the trade representative to the country, Stanislav Yankovets said. Saudi Arabia, itself a major oil producer, is buying Russian oil products at a discount and exporting its own to other markets, he said. The country’s purchased $250 million worth of Russian oil products last year, he said.
Saudi Arabia could be used for subsequent exports of Russian oil products to Africa and other markets, Yankovets said. In future, it will also be possible to ship oil products to Saudi Arabia through Iran, as diplomatic relations between these countries have been improving recently, he said.
There is also fairly strong demand in Saudi Arabia for Russian fertilizer, for use inside the country and for re-export, Yankovets said. The countries are working on establishing direct correspondent relations between banks, but Saudi banks “are being subjected to too strong pressure from unfriendly countries,” he said.
He also said the countries need to establish joint transport entities, and that there is interest in this on the Saudi side. But “we don’t sense interest on the part of our transport companies,” he added.
The trade turnover between Russia and Saudi Arabia fell to $1.6 billion in 2022 from $2.2 billion in 2021, Yankovets said, remarking that a bigger drop was expected.
Russia’s trade representative to the UAE, Andrei Terekhin said the trade turnover with this country totaled $9 billion in 2022, with Russian oil products accounting for 25% of the total. The reason that such a major oil producer as the UAE is buying Russian oil products is “the same as Saudi Arabia’s,” so there is potential to develop this cooperation, he said.
He also said that Russia and the UAE are working on mutual recognition of certificates for equipment.
