Russia is trying to take advantage of rising oil prices, as exports from its key Black Sea port have been halted due to Ukrainian drone attacks. The country's total average four-week shipments fell to 3.22 million barrels per day, the lowest since August. This is reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.
Details
"Russia is trying to take advantage of soaring oil prices, but exports from its main Black Sea port have stalled just as Baltic Sea shipments resumed after previous Ukrainian drone strikes. While shipments from the Baltic port of Ust-Luga have resumed after multiple attacks in recent weeks, this happened just as cargo operations in Novorossiysk on the Black Sea were halted due to new raids. The terminal's two largest berths remained inoperable for most of the week, with no signs of imminent recovery," the publication writes.
It is noted that this led to a decrease in the country's total average four-week supply volume to April 12 to 3.22 million barrels per day, which is 200 thousand less than the previous week, and is the lowest figure since August.
The war in the Middle East has driven oil prices to multi-year highs and increased demand for Russian supplies, as Middle Eastern supplies have effectively shrunk to a minimum. More than 12 million barrels per day of potential oil exports are stuck in the Persian Gulf, contributing to the depletion of Russian stocks held at sea as refineries seek alternatives.
"However, the Kremlin's own military budget cannot fully take advantage of soaring prices and growing demand for its oil due to the prolonged impact of military operations in Ukraine," the publication adds.
The publication notes that the recent drop in oil supply volumes coincided with a sharp increase in supplies from tankers that were previously stuck at sea with Russian cargo. As a result, Russian oil stocks at sea rapidly decreased: in the three weeks to April 12, the volume of oil on tankers decreased by approximately 26 million barrels.
By Sunday, the volume of oil at sea had decreased to 103 million barrels from a peak of about 140 million barrels in mid-January.
It is also emphasized that the prolonged disruption of exports from Russia due to drone attacks could jeopardize oil supplies to Indian refineries.
Recall
The International Energy Agency stated that global oil demand will decline this year for the first time since the 2020 COVID pandemic, as rising prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East are destroying this growth.