Russia cuts oil exports from ports by almost half due to fuel shortages and strikes on refineries

Crude oil exports from Russia’s western ports could fall to 1.7 million barrels per day in June from 2.5 million in May.

Russia plans to cut crude oil exports in June by diverting raw materials to domestic processing due to the threat of fuel shortages, Reuters reported.  

Thus, shipments from the ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk could fall to 1.7 million barrels per day from 2.5 million in May. The reduction is partly due to an overall drop in production.

Oil production in Russia has been declining since the beginning of the year. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak attributed this to unscheduled refinery maintenance. Reuters sources estimate that the drop in April reached 300,000–400,000 barrels per day — the largest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In May, production continued to decline by another approximately 100,000 barrels per day.

Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian port infrastructure, pipelines, and refineries since March have played a significant role. In April, Moscow was also forced to shut down the only remaining oil pipeline to Europe. As a reminder, restrictions on the sale of gasoline have already been introduced in 15 regions of the Russian Federation.

As USM wrote, yesterday the Defense Forces struck an oil depot through which the invaders supply petroleum products to the Novorossiysk port terminal.