Russia at 10-month highs in crude exports

The embargo decisions imposed by Western countries on Russia after the Russian-initiated war in Ukraine changed the balance of imports and exports. To fill the void in Europe, once its biggest market, Russia diverted its barrels of oil to Asia, mainly China and India.

According to information received from the real-time data monitoring company Vortexa, Russia’s total exports of crude oil and petroleum products rebounded in March by 6.75 million barrels per day. With the effect of the sanctions, Russia’s imports of crude oil and petroleum products had fallen below 5 million barrels.

Crude oil accounted for 3.38 million barrels of the total 6.75 million barrels of oil exports per day. Russia’s daily crude oil exports hit their highest level in 10 months in March.

Russia made 1.65 million barrels of its 3.38 million barrels a day of crude oil exports to China last month.

CHINA CARRIES ITS TITLE

In March, China regained the title of “Russia’s largest crude oil importer” from India after the war. While China’s crude oil imports from Russia have been hovering around 1 million barrels per day since May 2022, this figure dropped to 769,790 barrels per day in December 2022 alone.

Russia’s crude oil exports to India were recorded at 1.43 million barrels per day in March. Thus, China and India accounted for 91 percent of Russia’s total crude exports in March.

India’s crude imports from Russia increased 20 times last month, compared to 68,000 barrels per day in March 2022.

Of the remaining 300,000 barrels in Russia’s daily crude exports, 89,500 barrels go to Bulgaria, 59,860 barrels to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, 56,417 barrels to Turkey and 29,000 338 barrels to the European Union, Norway, Made to Europe, which includes Switzerland and England.

BIG DECREASE IN TURKEY OIL PURCHASES

Turkey’s crude oil purchases from Russia in March fell sharply compared to its imports of 243,000 barrels per day in February.

It was noted that Europe’s crude oil imports from Russia decreased significantly with the embargo decision of December 5, 2022. In November 2022, Europe’s daily crude oil imports from Russia were at the level of 507 thousand barrels.

Before the start of the war, Europe’s crude oil imports from Russia were in excess of 1.5 million barrels per day.

49 PERCENT OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS GO TO ASIA

The largest item of Russian exports of petroleum products, which amounted to about 3.37 million barrels per day last month, was diesel and gasoline, with 1.55 million barrels per day. Fuel oil exports ranked second with 866 thousand barrels per day.

The Asian region accounted for 49 percent of Russia’s oil product exports, at 1.65 million barrels per day. In the Asian region, 241 thousand barrels per day of total purchases of petroleum products were made by China and 204 thousand barrels by India. Imports of petroleum products of both countries from Russia stood at the level of 80,000 barrels per day in March 2022.

Exports of oil products from Russia to Turkey broke a record with 454,170 barrels last month. Turkey’s purchases of petroleum products from Russia increased by about 2.5 times in March 2023, compared to the level of 187 thousand barrels per day in March 2022.

In Europe, which was importing 1.2 to 1.6 million barrels of oil products from Russia a day before the war, there was a decline following the embargo on Russian oil products, which went into effect on February 5. .

Last month, Europe’s daily imports of Russian oil products amounted to 58,633 barrels. This figure was at the level of 965 thousand barrels per day in January 2023, before the embargo decision came into force.

EXPORTS ONLY TO EUROPE HAVE DECREASED

After the war, the export destinations of Russia’s petroleum products underwent a different change compared to crude oil, and there was a decline in exports only to Europe.

In addition to Asian countries, Russia’s exports of petroleum products to the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America increased rapidly.

Importing oil products from Russia at the level of 54,000 barrels per day in March 2022, the Middle East imported 387,257 barrels per day in March 2023.

In the same period, imports of North African petroleum products from Russia increased from 35,215 barrels per day to 318,564 barrels.

Latin America, for its part, increased the import of Russian oil products, which went from 93,780 barrels per day in March of last year, to 133,561 barrels per day in March 2023. (BRITISH AUTOMOBILE CLUB)