Russia reaches record level of oil product exports to Singapore - Reuters

Reuters states that Singapore's import of Russian oil, a key ingredient for the production of plastics and textile fibers, will increase to approximately 415,000 metric tons in May. Meanwhile, oil imports from Russia to Singapore rose in April to the highest level this year - 329,955 tons.

This led to an increase in the overall oil import to Singapore for April to 998,408 tons compared to 920,626 tons the previous year.

Russia could increase its exports of oil products

The source indicates that the Tuapse Refinery of Rosneft resumed processing at the beginning of this month after a prolonged shutdown due to a drone attack. It is now expected that in May, loading will increase by approximately 16% to 180,000 tons.

Additionally, the company Novatek plans to start test runs of a new gas processing unit with a capacity of 3 million metric tons per year at its gas condensate complex in the port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea in mid-June. This could allow it to increase oil exports to levels between 550,000 and 600,000 tons per month from the current 350,000 to 370,000 tons.

Last year, Russia filled Asian markets with its oil after Western countries imposed sanctions against it. Russia accounted for 25% of the total oil imports to Asia in 2023.

Sanctions against the Russian oil sector

Western countries imposed sanctions and capped prices on Russian oil in 2022, but they were unable to fully stop the flow of oil and petroleum products. The Kremlin circumvents restrictions and seeks to redirect its supplies to other markets.

Therefore, as early as 2024, Ukraine began drone attacks on Russian refineries, which dealt a significant blow to Russia's oil industry. The Foreign Affairs reported that Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries are now achieving what the Western sanctions regime could not.