Russian oil sea exports to Europe hold steady early November -Refinitiv, traders
Deliveries of Urals oil from Russia to European ports showed no sign of declining in the first 10 days of November ahead of Dec. 5 when EU countries will impose an embargo on sea-borne Russian crude, according to Reuters calculations and traders.
Russian Urals oil destinations and shipments in early November were the same as in the first half of October. About half of the cargoes went to Asia and the other to several European countries, mainly those where Russian companies own refineries, data on Refinitiv Eikon showed and traders said.
India remained the largest buyer of sea-borne Urals oil during Nov. 1-10, purchasing around 600,000 tonnes, while China purchased 200,000 tonnes over the period, Refinitiv data showed.
In the European Union, the main destination was Italy with 300,000 tonnes in the first 10 days of the month. The Italian port of Trieste is also a transit point for oil supplies to Germany via Transalpine pipeline (TAL).
Two more cargoes of Urals were sent to the Netherlands, Romania and Bulgaria each in the same period while one cargo went to Croatia’s Omisalj, the data showed.
Turkey received 300,000 tonnes of Urals oil in early November.
In addition, one cargo each of 100,000 tonnes of the grade was shipped to Port Said in Egypt and to Gibraltar. In both cases, market participants believed that these cargoes would be transferred to other tankers for further delivery to Asia.
Traders expect oil supplies to Europe to decline and to Asia to rise from the second half of November as European refineries may try to avoid the potential risk of unloading Russian oil shipments after Dec. 5.
“November shipments of Urals are the last chance to purchase loads of cheap Russian oil, supporting the economy of the refineries before they have to switch to expensive alternatives,” a trader in the Russian oil market said.
Source: Reuters (Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)