Russian oil refineries resume exchange fuel sales, though trading volumes have plunged amid fuel crisis, Kommersant reports
Russian oil refineries are gradually returning to fuel sales on the St. Petersburg Exchange, the Russian business daily Kommersant reports, citing a review by the analytics agency Platts that the outlet obtained.
Refineries with a combined oil processing capacity of about 40 million tons per year have resumed exchange trading, according to the review’s authors. At the same time, some large facilities processing more than 45 million tons of oil annually have yet to return.
The bulk of fuel continues to move through off-exchange channels — a trend that has intensified in recent weeks, Open Oil Market CEO Sergei Tereshkin told the outlet.
Wholesale trading volumes are rising, Kommersant notes, but the share of unfilled buy orders for gasoline still exceeds 80%. The most acute shortfall is in the AI-98/AI-100 segment, where unmet demand stands at 92.9%.
An industry source told the outlet that the situation at Russian gas stations is improving, with Belarusian refineries — and possibly vertically integrated oil companies — supplying gasoline to independent station networks. “The peak of the shortage has probably already passed,” the source told Kommersant.
Analysts who spoke to the outlet caution against expecting a quick recovery. The balance of supply and demand cannot be restored instantly, said Sergei Frolov, managing partner of NEFT Research, and a noticeable increase in production will only become possible closer to the end of the year.
During the crisis, Russia’s largest gasoline producers effectively stopped selling fuel on the exchange, directing it to their own gas stations. Independent gas station networks complained that they had nowhere to purchase fuel. They noted that wholesale gasoline prices had sharply risen in this situation, and that the increase would soon reach retail.
Russia has been experiencing a fuel crisis since May. One of its main causes has been Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries. Due to the attacks, the refineries have been forced to temporarily halt or completely stop fuel production.
Russian residents have been forced to stand in multi-hour lines to fill up their cars. Various regions have imposed restrictions on gasoline sales, including limits on the number of liters per vehicle and QR codes.
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