Russia delays publication of March oil output, export data

The Russian Energy Ministry delayed publication of the country's oil output and export data for March on April 2, at a time when sanctions are having a significant impact on Russian oil producers.

The US, Canada and the UK have announced crude import bans in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and financial sanctions have significantly complicated paying for Russian energy. As a result, buyers have turned away from Russian crude.

The Central Dispatching Unit of the Energy Ministry usually publishes output and export data for the previous month early in the morning on the second day of the month. It said April 2 that data would not be published that day due to "technical problems". Russian pipeline operator Transneft has also not published delivery data for March.

According to S&P Global Commodity Insights analysis, Russian crude shut-ins are expected at 2.8 million b/d from late April through end-2022, before moderating to 2 million b/d by end-2023.

The IEA estimates that the war could lead to the shut-in of about 2.5 million b/d of Russian oil.

Data released for February on March 2 showed output was up 0.5% on the month at 11.05 million b/d.

Until the invasion, crude quotas under the OPEC+ agreement had been the main driver of output volume changes.