Russia plans to cut April seaborne diesel exports to 5-month low

Russia plans to reduce daily diesel exports from key western ports in April to the lowest in five months, after Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries and seasonal maintenance sharply lowered crude processing rates.

Diesel loadings from the nation’s three major ports on the Black and Baltic Seas, including some volumes originating in Belarus, are set to fall to around 2.29 million tons this month, according to industry data seen by Bloomberg. 

That equates to just over 569,000 barrels a day, down 21% compared with actual daily exports of about 724,000 barrels from the same ports in March, calculations based on data from intelligence firm Kpler show.

Russia is cutting seaborne diesel supplies after weekly crude-processing rates dropped to a 10-month low following the Ukrainian drone attacks as the war between the two nations entered its third year. Seasonal maintenance that is set to last into summer, temporarily reducing crude throughput at some Russian refineries further down, is also putting pressure on the nation’s diesel flows. 

Russia no longer sends diesel to Europe due to Western energy sanctions. Yet lower flows from one of the word’s top producer of the fuel is set to raise volatility in the market that’s already been affected by attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and regional refinery outages.  

So far, Russia has no plans to ban diesel exports, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Friday, according to Russian newswires. “We produce enough diesel, twice as much as the domestic market needs,” Novak said in Moscow, according to state news agency Tass. If Russia were to impose the ban, the nation’s refining industry would face overstocking, he said. 

The diesel-export plan for April seen by Bloomberg only shows flows delivered to the three key domestic ports by pipeline. It doesn’t include smaller volumes sent to export outlets by rail and outside of Transneft PJSC’s oil-product pipeline system. Actual flows may differ, depending on the weather and demand from foreign customers.

Transneft, which compiles the loading schedules, did not immediately respond to a Bloomberg request for comment.