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The drone attacks and other headwinds will affect Russia's seaborne oil products exports in 2024

Industry data shows that Russia's seaborne exports of oil products fell by 9.1% last year to 113.7 millions metric tons as the country's refineries were hit with a number of challenges, including Ukrainian drone attacks and an export ban. They also faced falling prices, higher input costs, and a drop in oil prices.

Ukraine targeted several Russian fuel and refinery facilities including Lukoil’s Volgograd refinery and Gazprom’s Omsk oil refining facility in western Siberia. Also, Slavyansk, Novoshakhtinsk, and Rosneft’s Black Sea oil refinedry in Tuapse were targeted.

Market sources reported that Russian refineries were also under financial pressure due to the falling price of oil products, the rising cost of raw materials and Russia's prohibition on gasoline exports.

Calculations based on market data showed that the Russian oil processing industry fell to 267 million tons of oil in 2024. This is its lowest level since 2012. Unplanned outages and lower margins were to blame.

The data revealed that the total oil products exported via the Baltic port of Primorsk (Vysotsk), St. Petersburg (Ust-Luga) and St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg) fell by 9% from the year before to 61.96 millions tons in 2024.

Fuel exports through Russia's Black Sea ports and Azov Sea port fell by 10% to 42.75 millions tons.

Market sources said that oil products export loadings via Russian Black Sea Port of Tuapse dropped by a third, to 9,1 million tons, due to outages following drone attacks, suspension processing, and decreased refining in Rosneft’s refinery.

Data showed that Russian fuel exports through the Black Sea port Novorossiisk increased by 4%, to 19 million tonnes.

Fuel exports from Far East ports dropped 3% since 2023, to 7.97 millions tons.

Sources and calculations revealed that Russia's seaborne exports of oil products rose 10.8% on a month-to-month basis in December, to 10.37 millions tons. This included 4.17 million tonnes loaded through Black Sea and Azov Sea port, 5.49million tons via Baltic Sea ports and 637,000 tons via Russia's Far East ports. (Reporting and Editing by Alexander Smith).

(source: Reuters)