Rosneft’s Tuapsin Oil Refinery, one of the largest export-oriented refineries in southern Russia, resumed oil processing earlier this month.
Traders and analysts expect Russian oil exports to Singapore to hit their highest level this year in May as Russian refineries recover from drone attacks, a trend that will continue as new capacity is brought on line.
According to Reuters, Singapore’s imports of Russian oil, a key ingredient for making petrochemical products such as plastics and textile fibers, will rise to about 415,000 metric tons in May, LSEG Research estimates, while consultancy FGE expects nearly 500,000 tons.
“The impact of attacks on refineries will weaken in May and June, so we can expect an increase in exports from Russia,” said Arman Ashraf, head of liquefied natural gas at FGE.
Rosneft’s Tuapsin Oil Refinery, one of the largest export-oriented refineries in southern Russia, resumed oil processing earlier this month. Its May loading is estimated to rise about 16% to 180,000 tonnes as it resumes exports.
Ashraf from FGE believes that the total volume of Russian oil exports to Asia will reach the level of 1.4-1.5 million tons in June, but the risk of a reduction in Russian oil refining capacity remains. Russia will account for 25% of the total volume of oil imports to Asia in 2023, according to vessel tracking data by the Kpler company.
Russia increased oil supplies. Additional vessels departed from the large ports of Kozmino on the Pacific coast and Murmansk in the Arctic.
Bloomberg reports that crude oil supplies this year are ahead of 2023 averages thanks to growth last week, while domestic oil refining remains under pressure as refineries, barely recovering from Ukrainian drone strikes, go into seasonal maintenance. service. Attacks on refineries continue and Russia plans to cut daily diesel shipments from its key western ports in May to the lowest level since at least 2021.
