Russia’s seaborne exports of fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO) surged by 7% in July, reaching approximately 4.05 million metric tons, as reported by traders and LSEG data on Friday.
This increase was largely driven by the completion of seasonal maintenance at Russian refineries, reducing offline primary oil refining capacity in July to 2.5 million tons, a 44% drop from June.
Since the European Union implemented a full embargo on Russian oil products in February 2023, Russia has redirected its fuel oil and VGO exports primarily to Asian markets.
In July, shipments to China, one of the top destinations, rose by 18% from the previous month, totaling 0.7 million tons. China imports straight-run fuel oil and VGO as refining feedstock, blending it with Urals crude oil.
Saudi Arabia also saw a significant increase in Russian fuel oil and VGO imports in July, with volumes nearly doubling to 0.7 million tons. These shipments are mainly used in power generation plants during the hot summer season when energy demand peaks.
On the other hand, India’s imports of Russian fuel oil and VGO fell by 7% in July to 0.48 million tons.
Meanwhile, “dirty” oil product shipments to Fujairah climbed to 320,000 tons from 200,000 tons, and to Turkey, they rose to 264,000 tons from 95,500 tons.
South Korea’s imports from Russian Pacific ports also increased significantly, reaching 118,000 tons in July, up from 36,200 tons in June.
Additionally, about 295,000 tons of VGO and fuel oil loaded at Russian ports in July were transferred ship-to-ship near Greece and Malta. Most of these cargoes are expected to be delivered to Asian markets, according to market sources.
