Reuters: Russia has sharply increased the supply of oil from the Baltic ports to Asia
Russian oil exports from the Baltic Sea ports to Asian countries increased by 27% from January 1 to 15, to 2.8 million tons, compared to the same period in December 2022. This is reported Reuters with reference to data from traders and the Refinitiv Eikon portal.
According to the agency, the export of Russian and Kazakh oil from the ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga from January 1 to 15 increased to 3.4 million tons from 2.5 million tons in December. Including 3.1 million tons of oil from Russia, which is 35% more than in the same period in December.
The main importers of oil in Russia in January are considered by traders, said India and China. According to Reuters, for the export of Urals oil in China, Russia earned at least four VLCC supertankers in December 2022, one for delivery to India in January January of the year. Traders note that this allows to reduce the cost of transporting oil to Asia.
Russia redirected oil supplies to the Asia-Pacific region after operations due to the EU oil embargo and set a price ceiling for offshore deliveries of the Russian energy resource. The price cap has been in effect since December 5 last year at $60 per barrel. Russian President Vladimir Putin has banned the supply of oil under contracts, within the specified price ceiling. According to Reuters, Russia sells oil to China and India at a deep discount.
On the situation in the Russian oil market – in the material “Kommersant FM” “The embargo and the ceiling pressed down on oil prices.”