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Market Chatter: Russia's April Seaborne Oil Product Exports Fall Sharply After Ukrainian Drone Strikes

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Russia's seaborne oil product exports witnessed a steep decline in April, at 7.77 million metric tons, down 9.8% from the prior month and 17% from a year ago, according to a Reuters report, based on the news agency's calculations and data from industry sources.

This was attributed to relentless attacks by Ukraine in recent months, against Russia's major ports and refineries, forcing nearly 700,000 barrels per day of Russian crude processing capacity offline from January through May.

Ukraine says it is seeking to deprive Russia of oil revenues that have helped fund its war on its neighbour that is now in its fifth year.

The impact was particularly pronounced across Russia's Baltic regions. Oil product loadings from Baltic ports including Primorsk, Vysotsk, St. Petersburg and Ust-Luga dropped 31.4% from the previous month, to 3.32 million tons in April.

In late March, drone strikes triggered fires at fuel storage facilities in Primorsk and Ust-Luga, disrupting terminal operations and reducing export handling capacity.

However, the Black Sea and Azov Sea ports have witnessed an uptick in exports, by 20.3% from the previous month, at 3.65 million tons, which wasn't enough to offset losses elsewhere.

Other ports, such as Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the Arctic region and those in the far east witnessed a similar spike in volumes last month, as traders began rerouting flows from the ports and storage facilities that have been impacted by Ukrainian drone strikes.

The Kremlin did not immediately respond to' request for a comment on this story.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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