Russian oil refining rises as maintenance ends, fuel ban lifted

Russia’s oil processing climbed to the highest since mid-August in the latest week, as refineries ended seasonal maintenance and the government relaxed fuel-export restrictions.

The country processed 5.65 million barrels a day in the Nov. 16-22 period, more than 100,000 barrels a day above the previous week, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Refining totaled 5.55 million barrels a day in the first 22 days of November, up about 236,000 barrels compared with most of October, Bloomberg calculations based on historic data show.

Russia’s refineries are churning through crude as the government lifted temporary restrictions on exports of gasoline and summer-grade diesel, giving them more incentive to produce the road fuels. Refining runs have also been boosted after seasonal maintenance was completed ahead of winter.

The market closely watches Russian refinery runs as the data — together with seaborne crude exports — helps traders and analysts assess the nation’s oil production after Moscow stopped releasing official output data. 

While the country’s domestic processing has climbed, its seaborne oil exports fell to the lowest since August in the week to Nov. 19, tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg show. Shipments were down by 580,000 barrels a day from the previous week, the biggest week-on-week drop in more than four months.

Russia and its allies in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are set to hold an online meeting on Nov. 30 to discuss their production policies for the next year. Moscow has pledged to keep its crude output tapered through the end of 2024 and its oil exports, including flows of petroleum products, curbed through this year to stabilize the global market.