At the end of July, traders shipped nearly 30,000 tonnes of refined fuel from South Korea to Russia, according to vessel-tracking systems and a source in the trading sector, Reuters reports, indicating that this points to rising demand for imports amid attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, UNN writes.
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According to vessel-tracking systems Kpler and Vortexa, at least two small coastal tankers were loaded with fuel products transferred from storage tanks at the container port of Ulsan toward Russia’s Far East, an unusual transaction.
One of the vessels arrived in Russia but had not yet unloaded, according to Kpler data and a source in the trading sector.
Two sources familiar with the situation said the fuel included diesel, while one of them said it also included jet fuel.
South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources declined to comment, while Russia’s Ministry of Energy did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Moscow extended its ban on diesel and gasoline exports until January, although some restrictions will be eased from September 1.
Russia is usually a net exporter of diesel fuel, with volumes following the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 being directed mainly to Brazil, Turkey and West Africa.
Last month, Reuters reported that Russia was expected to receive a shipment of at least 200,000 barrels of jet fuel from Japan through traders who were supposed to deliver it via South Korea, but several trading sources later said that the supply had not taken place.
Tokyo later stated that the ban on exporting jet fuel to Russia also applies to supplies through third countries or transshipment by sea.
As Kpler vessel-tracking data showed, the previous shipment from Northeast Asia to Russia appears to have been 22,000 barrels of jet fuel from the South Korean city of Yeosu in February 2022. The fuel was delivered to Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East.
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