The temporary halt in supplies of Russian Sokol crude oil from Sakhalin Island on the Pacific coast was offset by a sharp increase in flows of ESPO, a grade of Siberian oil supplied via the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline. Thus, four-week Russian oil exports rose to the highest level in almost four months. Bloomberg reports this.
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Bloomberg estimates that four-week average supply volumes exceeded Moscow's promised export target by about 190 thousand barrels per day (b/d).
Weekly supply volumes by February 22 increased by 365 thousand b/d to 3.5 million, which is approximately 215 thousand b/d above the target.
The gross value of Russian crude oil exports recovered to a three-week high, rising to $1.73 billion in the seven days to February 25 from $1.55 billion last week. Meanwhile, average four-week revenue continued to rise by $115 million to $1.7 billion per week.
Falcon's temporary lack of cargo is due to a shortage of tankers needed to transport oil. This is all happening against the backdrop of problems with the supply of the Indian market.
Since December, Moscow has been trying to deliver Sokol to India, the main market for products from the Sakhalin-1 project, but Indian oil refiners fear US sanctions and complain that supplies are too expensive.
While three cargoes “ Sokol were delivered to India this month, and several others were redirected to China, with at least 14 more – totaling about 10 million barrels – still on ships.
Russia's ability to transport its oil may be further complicated after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 14 Sovcomflot-owned tankers from the Russian state-owned tanker company. Previous sanctions have grounded some of the huge fleet of tankers Russia uses to deliver crude oil.
Meanwhile, Russian pipeline operator Transneft plans to build three additional oil storage tanks at Kozmino as part of ESPO's plans to increase oil supplies “, redirecting more crude oil from the country's western ports.