Russian diesel exports rise despite refinery strikes; US top destination

Russian diesel and gasoil exports edged up in the week ended Nov. 5, according to shipping data from S&P Global Commodities at Sea retrieved Nov. 9, despite intensified Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries.

Russia exported 410,000 metric tons of diesel/gasoil in the week, up from 358,000 mt the previous week, according to CAS data.

Among Russian ports, 193,000 mt came from Primorsk, up week over week from 178,000 mt, while 67,000 mt came from Nakhodka, 37,000 mt was loaded at Ust-Luga, 63,000 mt came from Zhelezny Rog Port and 30,000 was loaded from Vysotsk.

Of these loadings, the US was the biggest destination, with 141,000 mt of product loaded for the US in the week, up from 36,000 mt the prior week, followed by Singapore with 87,000 mt.

About 74,000 mt was bound for Morocco, 43,000 mt for Turkey, and 30,000 mt for Singapore, according to CAS data.

Total loadings of Russian diesel/gasoil in November have so far reached 349,000 mt, putting them on track to rise month over month from October, when they totaled 985,000 mt. In November 2025, meanwhile, total Russian diesel/gasoil loadings reached about 2.7 million mt.

After a two-week break from Oct. 16 to Oct. 29, Ukraine resumed its attacks on Russian refineries, with six different plants hit by Ukrainian drones in the first eight days of the resumption, according to Russian media outlet Astra.

Russia set a target of about 2.15 million mt of diesel exports in November, according to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, but renewed attacks on the refineries "could lead to a reduction in supply volumes," he noted.

US-bound tankers

As of Nov. 9, CAS identified five MR tankers sailing to the US Atlantic Coast carrying Russian gasoil, but none have yet reached the US shores.

The first of them, the Malta-flagged Agioi Fanendes, was originally due to arrive Nov. 7 but has reduced its sailing speed in recent days and is now still in the West Atlantic, according to the latest CAS data.

The ships, which lifted a total of 176,000 mt of gasoil from Russian Baltic ports between Oct. 23 and Nov. 5, could still be diverted elsewhere.

The US Treasury Department issued a sanctions waiver to Russia Oct. 9, allowing the sale, delivery and import of Russian-origin diesel fuel, including into the US. Following the announcement, Russia partially lifted its full diesel export ban introduced in July.

Although Ukraine faced significant pressure from the US administration to stop the attacks before the mid-term elections, President Donald Trump did not comment on Ukraine's renewed attacks in the past two weeks.

Ukraine will continue striking Russian refineries until Russia stops attacking its energy infrastructure or until the US supplies new Patriot air defense missiles to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Nov. 1.