The Russian Federation has sharply increased marine deliveries of crude oil, reaching the highest level in over a month. This is due to the gradual restoration of infrastructure following previous strikes by Ukrainian drones on Russian export facilities, which had significantly limited shipments.
This is reported by Finway
New Supply Peaks and Export Geography
In the four weeks ending April 26, the average daily volume of crude oil exports by sea from Russian ports rose to 3.52 million barrels. This is approximately 350,000 barrels more than the previous week and is the highest figure since mid-March. Directly in the last week, this figure rose to 3.79 million barrels per day — a maximum since March 22.
Earlier, attacks by Ukrainian drones on export terminals in Primorsk, Ust-Luga (Baltic Sea), and Novorossiysk (Black Sea) led to a significant decrease in loading and oil export activity. The restoration of port operations has allowed for increased supplies and a rise in the amount of Russian oil at sea.
Increase in Sea Stocks and Restoration of Pipeline Flows
According to monitoring data, the volume of Russian oil at sea on April 26 increased to 114 million barrels compared to 100 million two weeks earlier. Most of this oil is in transit — only less than 5 million barrels remain on tankers that have been idle for over a week. A particularly significant increase in exports is observed towards India: in April, at least 10 shipments of ESPO grade oil headed to Indian ports, whereas in February there were only three.
“Earlier strikes by Ukrainian drones targeting export centers in Russian Primorsk and Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea and in Novorossiysk on the Black Sea led to a sharp decline in loading and supply activity.”
In addition to marine routes, pipeline deliveries of crude oil from Russia to Hungary via Ukraine were restored last week. This became possible after the aftermath of a Russian drone strike on a pumping station in western Ukraine in January was addressed. The restoration of this route could reduce the volumes of oil available for marine export by 150–200 thousand barrels per day.
During the week leading up to April 26, 36 tankers loaded 26.56 million barrels of Russian oil, exceeding the previous week’s figure (26.47 million barrels on 35 vessels). The average daily shipment was 3.79 million barrels, slightly more than 3.78 million the week before.
Despite the increase in physical export volumes, the value of the oil unloaded in the week leading up to April 26 was approximately $2.31 billion — $130 million less than the previous week. This is related to the drop in prices for Urals grade oil, which fell by nearly $7 per barrel over the week.