North Asia

Three industry sources have confirmed that the Russian Ryazan refinery has halted operations following an attack on Monday by Ukrainian drones. Sources said that the main crude distillation unit, CDU-6 at the refinery caught fire during the attack, and the plant had completely suspended oil processing. Rosneft did not reply to a comment request. Ukraine's military reported on Monday that some of their drones hit the Ryazan refinery overnight. At least five explosions occurred in its proximity. Pavel Malkov is the governor of Ryazan. Telegram, a messaging app, reported that debris from the destroyed Ukrainian drones caused a fire in...

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development announced on Sunday that Myanmar and its close friend Russia had signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation for investment in a Dawei special economic zone, which includes construction of an oil refinery and a port. The document was signed during the visit of a Russian delegation to Myanmar by Maxim Reshetnikov, the head of Russia's ministry. Reshetnikov, quoted by the Russian Ministry in a press release, said that the text of the memo contains the basic parameters for several large infrastructure and power projects being implemented in Myanmar jointly with Russian companies. We...

The Russian port agency reported that a Liberian-flagged cargo vessel carrying corn from a Russian to Turkey port is trying to stop the water leakage after it sustained a crack earlier this week in the Sea of Azov. The vessel Pavel Grabovskiy was loaded with 2,939 tonnes of corn. The vessel, Pavel Grabovskiy, was loaded with 2,939 tons of corn. In a statement released by Rosmorport on Thursday, it was stated that water was being pumped from the damaged ballast tanks and additional equipment to pump water would be arriving soon. Rosmorport sent a statement to the media on Friday...

According to a recent letter, the Russian authorities have tightened up measures in ports and are employing divers to check the bottom of ships. This is due to increasing threats to infrastructure and merchant shipping. The letter from the Russian Transport Ministry and Federal Agency for Sea and River Transport (ROSMORRECHFLOT) instructs sea port Captains to inform shipowners of the need for all vessels to be checked for explosives and foreign objects upon arrival at seaports. This includes using divers and underwater telemetric equipment. The letter, dated 14 February, mentions an increased threat to the safety of transport infrastructures and...

The chief prosecutor for the city of Genoa announced on Thursday that Italian authorities have opened a terrorism probe into the explosions which damaged an oil tanker last weekend off the coast of northern Italy. This was the fourth such incident in the Mediterranean Sea and Baltic Sea in the past 30 days. Two explosions caused a hole to appear below the surface of the crude oil tanker Seajewel operated by Greece, which was discharging its oil while anchored off the port Savona Vado on Saturday. The alleged attack against the Seajewel was not immediately known. Like the other explosion-hit...

Local officials reported on Wednesday that a Russian drone attack in Odesa, a region in southern Ukraine, injured four people including a child and caused widespread power outages. Governor Oleh Kiper stated that the "massive attack" damaged civilian infrastructure including a kindergarten and a clinic for children, as well as windows on high-rise buildings. Hennadiy Trunkanov, the mayor of Moscow, said that energy workers were assessing what would happen to one of the city's biggest districts with over 250,000 inhabitants, who lost their heating and electricity. The temperatures in the morning dropped to minus 6 Celsius, or 21 Fahrenheit. Trukhanov...

Hennadiy Trunkanov, the mayor of Odesa in Ukraine, said that Russian forces had attacked Odesa's Black Sea Port City, leaving many of its residents without water, electricity or heating. Trukhanov, who uses the Telegram app to communicate, described the Odesa strike as "massive" by writing: "Hospitals were without heat, clinics, and sites of social infrastructure." Odesa, and especially the facilities at the three ports around the city, has been the target of Russian airstrikes in the war that has lasted for nearly three years. Trukhanov shared pictures of damaged buildings and windows on Telegram. He did not mention any casualties,...

Two people familiar with this matter reported that oil exports from Russia’s Black Sea port, Novorossiisk, were revised upwards by 0.24 million metric tonnes for February. This amounts to approximately 590,000. barrels per day. Calculations showed that the daily oil loadings at the Black Sea port will increase by 12% compared to the previous plan. Sources said that the revision was made after the addition of two additional cargoes, each of 100,000 and 144,000 tons, for loading on February 14-15, 25-26 and respectively. Novorossiisk is the port from which three oil grades are loaded: Russian Urals, Siberian Light, and Kazakhstan's...

Calculations on Friday showed that the price of Urals crude oil in Primorsk, Russia and Ust-Luga, Russia fell below the Western price ceiling level of $60 a barrel on Thursday as global oil prices dropped and freight rates rose for Russian oil shipments. According to the cap, which was imposed by the Group of Seven and Australia in 2022 to reduce Russia's oil export revenue, buyers are only allowed access to Western services, such as insurance and shipping, when the price of Russian crude falls below $60 per barrel. LSEG data indicates that the Urals price in Russian ports has...

According to trade and shipping sources, the freight rates for Urals crude to be shipped from Baltic ports to India increased by around 20% in February. The increase was due to U.S. Sanctions and an increase in exports which required more vessels. The Russian oil exporters who spend more on shipping will see their earnings for oil sales decrease. The Russian loading plan for February in western ports has been revised by 19%, to 1.9 millions barrels per day. This is due to lower refinery output. A source in the Russian oil trade said that booking a vessel to travel...

MOSCOW, February 12 () – Russia exported Urals crude oil to Cuba onboard a ship that was under U.S. sanction in January. This rare trade reflects Moscow’s increased search for buyers who would accept delivery by using its shadow tanker fleet, LSEG showed. On January 29, the vessel Akademik Gubkin loaded 100,000 metric tonnes of Urals at Ust-Luga, a Russian Baltic Sea port. The cargo will now cross the Atlantic to arrive at Cuba's Matanzas Terminal on February 19. According to market data and LSEG, the vessel is managed by Rosnefteflot - the marine transport arm of Russian oil company...

Three industry sources said on Wednesday that the Volgograd oil refining plant in Russia, which had temporarily halted its operations after a drone attack by Ukraine on February 3, partially resumed its processing. According to one source, the crude distillation unit CDU-5 was restarted on February 10 at the plant controlled by Lukoil, an oil major located in southern Russia. The primary units are slowly returning to operation. The capacity is growing. Another source stated that more than half the capacity was actually operational. Lukoil didn't respond to a comment request. Another source reported that the refinery's throughput on Monday...

CEZ, a Czech utility company, announced on Wednesday that it won a dispute with Russian Gazprom over damages in excess of 1 billion crowns (42.16 millions dollars). CEZ was forced to purchase gas at high prices in order to make up for the damage caused by the significant decrease in gas supplies that Gazprom made during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. CEZ claimed that an arbitral tribunal of the International Chamber of Commerce had upheld the full validity of its claim, and that Gazprom was required to pay damages as well as interest and costs of proceedings. CEZ stated that...

Two sources familiar with the plan said that after Monday's drone attack, the Black Sea CPC blend oil loading plan will not change for February. The drone attack hit a pumping facility on an oil pipeline that runs through Russia. This reduced the flow of oil from Kazakhstan into world markets, which is pumped by western firms such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Two sources familiar with the situation said that the plan to ship crude oil via CPC remained the same on Monday, at 1.4-1.5 million barrels a day or 5.1 million tons. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which controls...

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania announced on Sunday that they successfully synchronised the electricity systems of their countries to the European continental grid. This comes one day after Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania severed decades-old energy links with Russia and Belarus. The complex switch from the grid that was used by their former Soviet Imperial overlord has been planned for many years. It is intended to bring the three Baltic countries closer to the European Union, and boost energy security in the region. In a social media post, Latvian President Edgars Rinkovics stated: "We did it!" The Baltic countries cut high-voltage cross-border...

Lithuania announced on Saturday that it had disconnected its power system from the Russian grid. This is part of a larger plan, which the Baltic states claim will help them integrate more closely with Europe and improve security. After operating independently, Latvia and Estonia will be expected to follow suit at 0700 GMT Saturday. Subject to any last-minute testing, they should synchronise their grids with the EU on Sunday. A spokesperson for Lithuanian grid operators Litgrid stated, "We have disconnected." After the annexation by Russia of Crimea, plans to decouple the Baltics from their former Soviet imperial master gained momentum....

Russia's gas exports via the TurkStream pipeline to Europe have actually reached a record high of more than 50 million cubic metres (mcm) each day this month after transit through Ukraine was shut, Reuters preliminary calculations revealed on Friday. Turkey has remained the only route for Russian gas to Europe after a five-year transit offer between Moscow and Kyiv was not extended when it ended on Jan. 1. Computations based upon data from European gas transmission group Entsog showed that Russian gas exports by means of the TurkStream have actually leapt this month by 26.8% year on year, increasing to...

A local governor reported that experts are working to restore gas supply to trunk pipelines coming from the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant in Russia, which had been damaged by Ukrainian drones just a day earlier. Ukraine launched drones on Monday to strike energy facilities in southern Russia. The drones caused fires at an oil refinery, and a gas processing plant. Igor Babushkin said that drones from Ukraine tried to attack energy facilities, and a fire broke out. He said that on Tuesday, the repairs, including commissioning, testing, and resuming natural gas supply to the trunk pipelines, from the Astrakhan Plant,...

Police in Norway said that a Norwegian cargo ship, with a crew made up entirely of Russians, suspected of damaging a Baltic Sea Telecoms Cable has been released after authorities found no connection to the incident. Tromsoe police, in northern Norway, said that the Silver Dania had been seized on the request of Latvian officials and with the assistance of the Norwegian coast guard. "The investigation is continuing, but there's no reason why the ship should remain in Tromsoe." The police stated that no evidence has been found to link the ship with the act of damaging the cable. Norwegian...

A government official told the TASS state news agency that the Russian government had launched an inspection program to examine the condition of the tanker fleet in the country after a major oil spill involving a tanker. The authorities in southern Russia's Krasnodar Region have declared an emergency in the region after a large oil spill was caused by two old tankers that got into trouble in December during a storm. The Volgoneft tanker 212 split in two in the Kerch Strait between the Black Sea Sea of Azov. Meanwhile, the Volgoneft Tanker 239 ran aground in the Kerch Strait...

These are the most popular stories from the Financial Times. These stories have not been verified and we cannot vouch their accuracy. Headlines -The European Union is debating the return of Russian gas in Ukraine as part of peace deal Shell boss says he will take the Jackdaw Gasfield case to Britain's highest Court Norwegian government falls over EU energy dispute British regulators proposes to ease Royal Mail obligations View the full article European officials are debating if Russian pipeline gas sales should be restarted to the European Union as part of an eventual settlement to end the conflict against...

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has looked for the resumption of Russian gas transit through Ukraine, will go over the issue with European Commission authorities on Thursday, his workplace stated on Tuesday. The Kremlin stated it favoured a resumption of transit through Ukraine, which has actually refused to renew a contract to enable it on grounds it helps fund Russia's war against Kyiv. Transit through Ukraine has actually been a recognized route for sending supplies to Slovakia, Austria and ex-Soviet Moldova. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy scolded Fico for trying to secure new supplies from Moscow rather of from Western...

Freight rates for Russian ESPO Blend oil loading from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino have leapt fivefold amidst an absence of vessels after fresh U.S. sanctions cut accessibility of tankers, three traders said and information showed. Higher freight costs cut Russian oil sellers' profits that are currently under pressure from U.S. sanctions and complicated logistics, while a lack of vessels in the region during the winter might lead to filling disruptions, traders said. On Jan. 10 the U.S. imposed the hardest sanctions yet on the Russian oil industry, targeting significant oil business, Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Neft, along with more...

Russia may supply as much as 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas annually to Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, as Moscow diversifies its gas flows after a significant fall in exports to Europe. Since its full-scale intrusion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has lost its dominance of the European gas market, when a crucial source of earnings for Kremlin-controlled Gazprom. Putin, speaking at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, stated Russia's gas materials to Iran might ultimately reach 55 bcm per year, but it would need to start with small volumes of...