Russia Cuts Gasoline Exports

by David Evans (Reuters) Russia has cut gasoline exports via its ports and border crossings in September by 14% month-on-month to 256,204 tonnes amid refinery maintenance and weak demand in Europe, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed. 

Gasoline is in surplus in Europe because stocks are building as refineries were previously maximizing throughput with margins supported by gasoil and diesel prices, according to James Burleigh, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie.

Also naphtha has moved into the gasoline blending pool as a result of low demand up the Rhine, Insight Global’s Lars van Wageningen said. 

Besides, the European Union has been reducing imports of Russian oil products since March and has agreed a full ban from February 2023. 

The main destinations of Russian gasoline exports in September were Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan, while the Baltic port of Ust-Luga lost its leadership as a key gasoline export outlet, sources data showed. 

Russia’s Kirishi oil refinery, owned by Surgutneftegaz, which was the top gasoline exporter in Ust-Luga, more than halved motor fuel exports via the Baltic port of Ust-Luga last month to 29,000 tonnes due to planned major overhaul.

The share of Russian gasoline export supplies to the Baltic port of Ust-Luga dropped to 23% in September versus 40% in the previous month, yielding the rest to gasoline produced by Belarusian refineries. 

Russia and Belarus signed a transit agreement in March 2021 to ship up to 9.8 million tonnes of Belarusian oil products via Russia’s Baltic ports for exports to third countries between 2021 and 2023. 

(Reporting by Reuters. Editing by David Evans)

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