Russia increased oil exports to the maximum in 16 months

Russian oil shipments by sea have reached record volumes in 16 months, despite a reduction in refining at refineries due to drone attacks. 

According to vessel tracking data, the average four-week export for the period up to September 21 amounted to 3.62 million barrels per day, the maximum since the beginning of May 2024. This indicator better reflects long-term dynamics than weekly statistics.

Domestic refining fell below 5 million barrels per day, the lowest level since April 2022. However, the strikes on infrastructure did not lead to disruptions in supplies to the Baltic and Black Sea export terminals. Moreover, the port of Primorsk last week shipped a record 12 shipments of oil.

The increase in supplies coincides with an increase in production under the OPEC+ agreement, under which Moscow has increased its production target by more than 400,000 barrels per day since March. Just a week before September 21, 31 tankers exported 23.69 million barrels from Russia, which is higher than the previous week (22.26 million barrels on 29 ships).