Russian diesel supply is starting to pile up on tankers at sea

Large volumes of Russian diesel are floating at sea, a sign that Moscow is finding it difficult to find homes for the barrels.

It’s not clear why the glut has emerged, but the US and its allies have stepped up sanctions on Russian oil in recent months, blacklisting a handful of middlemen and individual vessels — including some run by Russia’s state-owned tanker company Sovcomflot PJSC. 

An average of 6.2 million barrels of diesel had been floating in the 10 days to March 17, according to data from Kpler, an analytics firm. That’s the highest the measure’s been since at least 2017.

The recent buildup easily surpasses what was seen in the pandemic and even beats levels seen in 2023, when sanctions banning shipments into the European Union came into force.

Ukraine has been targeting Russia’s oil refineries with drones, hampering their capacity to make fuel. So that shouldn’t be a cause of the floating glut