Russia may hold off oil export cuts in October, sources say
MOSCOW, Sept 18 (Reuters) -Russia may hold off oil export cuts for its western ports in October or even increase loadings, despite scheduled rise of available primary oil refining capacity at local oil plants which enables Moscow to boost crude runs, market sources said.
"I expect a small rise in Russia's oil exports in October - by several hundred thousand (metric) tons. I doubt that all the repairs will be completed on time, while the situation with oil plants in Russia's south is not clear yet," an industry source said.
Russia's primary oil refining capacity is expected to rise in the second half of September as refineries wrap up their maintenance, Reuters calculations based on data from industry sources showed on Monday.
Total offline capacity for the whole month is still seen remaining the same as calculated last week, at around 3.9 million tons, jumping 34% in September from August.
Going by a current maintenance schedule, the country's offline primary oil refining capacity in October would fall by 37% from September to 2.42 million tons. The schedule is subject to change.
Other traders believe oil loadings from Russia's western ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk in October may fall, as the country winds down seasonal repairs at its oil plants.
Traders said it was hard to estimate Russia's oil export plans for next month so far, as provisional loading dates for its Baltic and Black Sea ports for the first days of October have yet to emerge, traders added.
Russia's crude oil loading plan from the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga for September has been revised higher by 0.2 million tons to 6.2 million tons, market sources said last week.
Additional exports will increase planned oil loadings in September from Russian western ports to 2.04 million barrels per day, Reuters calculations show. September loadings will rise by 4.5% from August on a daily basis.
Editing by David Evans
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
