Russian oil exports continue to fall - Bloomberg
According to Bloomberg, Russia’s oil exports fell to a six-week low even before the announced 500,000 barrels per day production cut next month.
This is stated by Censor.NЕТ withr reference to ZN.ua.
Total Russian oil flows fell by 562 thousand barrels per day, or 16%, in the seven days to February 10, even as exports from Baltic ports increased. Combined shipments from the Arctic and Pacific Ocean fell by half a million barrels daily, and shipments from the Black Sea also dropped.
Moscow is trying to present the production cuts announced on Friday by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak as a response to the Group of Seven's cap on the price of Russian oil. However, as the newspaper notes, this may reflect the difficulties Russia faces in maintaining crude oil supplies to its four remaining customers - China, India, Turkey and Bulgaria.
Revenues to the Kremlin's military coffers from oil export duties have fallen sharply since the beginning of the year. Concerned about the drop in revenues, the Russian government has proposed to switch from using Urals prices reported by the Argus to setting the tax base price as a discount to the Brent price. It is expected to be $34 per barrel in April, and to drop to $25 per barrel by July.
The EU's ban on Russian oil imports has led to a significant increase in the duration of sea transportation: it now takes an average of 31 days to reach India from Baltic ports, while it takes only seven days from the same terminals to Rotterdam and about half that to Poland. This puts additional pressure on ships whose owners are willing to carry Russian cargo. HA is increasingly relying on its own vessels and the so-called "shadow fleet."
