BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 14. Russian oil exports surged to their highest since April 2020, Trend reports citing the latest oil market outlook from the International Energy Agency (IEA).
According to the report, total oil shipments from Russia increased by 0.6 mb/d to 8.1 mb/d, with products climbing 450 kb/d m-o-m to 3.1 mb/d.
Mainly, Russia's crude oil increased by 100,000 b/d to 5 mb/d, while shipments destined for the EU continued at a reduced rate of 0.3 mb/d.
"Onshore trade via the Druzhba pipeline has been notably weak (230,000 b/d), and reduced pipeline flows are expected to persist as PKN Orlen, Poland's largest refiner, cancelled its contract with Tatneft at the start of April," the report said.
As the outlook noted, lion's share of Russia’s EU seaborne exports in the amount of 110,000 b/d are destined for Bulgaria, which is exempt from the embargo.
"In Asia, top importers swapped ranks in March with India replacing China as the largest lifter of Russian oil. Exports to India edged up 200,000 b/d to 2.1 mb/d, while shipments to China fell by 500,000 b/d to 1.7 mb/d. Roughly 200,000 b/d of Russian crude oil exports had no known destination listed at the time of writing," the report noted.
At the same time, Russia's product exports surged by 450,000 b/d to 3.1 mb/d. Moreover, product flows to the EU almost doubled to 300,000 b/d (up by 140,000 b/d month-on-month), but down nearly 1.5 mb/d compared with pre-war levels.
"Sales to Türkiye rose 130,000 b/d month-on-month, led by a notable increase in gasoil/diesel shipments to almost 370,000 b/d – the highest level at least since 2018. Other gains came from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, which were up by 350,000 b/d, 320,000 b/d and 80,000 b/d, respectively, compared with pre-war levels, with nearly 1 mb/d of Russian oil products heading for the three regions in March. Roughly 0.4 mb/d of Russian product exports had no known destination at the time of writing," the IEA added.
Meanwhile, the IEA expects Russia's average oil production in 2023 at 10.6 mb/d, down by 530,000 b/d year-on-year.