Russian crude exports stay high in April; gasoil shipments dip on refinery maintenance

Russia's seaborne crude exports stayed high in April, with healthy demand from its usual customers, according tocargo-tracking data, while its shipments of gasoil and diesel fell during the refinery maintenance season.

S&P Global Commodities at Sea data suggested the OPEC+ member's total crude exports reached 3.53 million b/d in April, down from 3.58 million b/d in March but still the second highest monthly reading since December.

Exports to China, the No. 2 buyer of Russian crude, rose to 1.12 million b/d from 1.07 million b/d on continued cargo flows of Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean Blend.

CAS figures showed that Russian ESPO Blend crude loadings from Kozmino port hit an all-time high of 41 ships in April, including 34 that have discharged or are soon to discharge their cargo in China.

Russia lifted its shipments to Turkey, the third-largest customer, to 270,000 b/d from 225,000 b/d, as Tupras appeared to have resumed imports.

Turkey's largest refiner announced on an earnings call in February that it would unilaterally suspend its Urals purchases amid a US sanctions clampdown, but CAS data showed a Marshall Islands-flagged Suezmax with 730,000 barrels of the Russian flagship crude moored at Tupras' Izmir refinery in April.

The development came as Russia shipped out 1.64 million b/d to India, the top buyer of Russian crude, still strong but lower than 1.74 million b/d in March, as refiners in the South Asian country imported more US barrels amid heightened trade tensions.

"The US has intensified efforts to position itself as India's leading energy supplier, focusing on both crude and LNG exports," said Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, former chairman of Indian Oil Corp.

"While US crude remains a strategic option, logistics and shipping costs will be key factors in determining its competitiveness in India's crude basket."

Refinery maintenance

Russia's gasoil and diesel exports amounted to 825,000 b/d in April, a four-month low and down from 878,000 b/d in March.

The decrease came as Russian refineries kick-started their maintenance season during the second quarter, with S&P Global Commodity Insights research suggesting roughly 800,000 b/d of refining capacity offline due to scheduled and unplanned turnarounds in April.

Through April-May, the Russian refineries under full or partial maintenance include Gazprom Neft's 428,000-b/d Omsk plant, IPC's Khabarovsk 100,000-b/d plant and Rosneft's 150,000-b/d Achinsk plant.

Commodity Insights analysts attributed the decrease to lower shipments to Brazil, as discounts on Russian barrels for South America's largest economy were not significant compared to US supplies in April.

The premium for US ultra low sulfur diesel arriving in Suape priced against cargoes of all other origins averaged $1.844/b in April, lower than $3.165/b in March, according to Platts, part of Commodity Insights.

However, Russia's overall oil product exports rose to a three-month high of 2.46 million b/d in April from 2.35 million b/d in March, as Commodity Insights analysts suggested that the country ramped up shipments of naphtha, fuel oil and vacuum gas oil -- products usually routed to secondary refining units.

Russia exported 902,000 b/d of fuel oil and residues in April, a four-month high and up from 810,000 b/d in March, according to CAS.

The increase came amid stronger pull from Singapore, the world's largest bunker hub, and Saudi Arabia, where importers were stocking ahead of the summer peak demand season for power generation, the analysts said.