Russia turns to India for gasoline after Ukrainian strikes on refineries — Bloomberg
Photo: Russia has begun importing gasoline from India due to Ukraine's strikes on oil refineries (Getty Images)
Russia has begun importing gasoline from India due to a fuel shortage that arose after a series of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, according to Bloomberg.
The first shipment of Indian gasoline arrived in Russia on August 5. The supplier was Nayara Energy, in which Russia's Rosneft holds a stake.
The fuel was transported by tankers linked to Russia via a transshipment point off the coast of Egypt.
Analysts note that these shipments, along with ongoing imports from Belarus and other neighboring countries, indicate a serious imbalance in the Russian gasoline market.
According to EA Analytics, in July, Russian refineries processed about 3.6 million barrels of crude oil per day—roughly one-third less than the seasonal average. Last week, Ukrainian strikes hit five oil refineries, and this week—at least two.
Due to domestic supply issues, Moscow has banned exports of gasoline and diesel fuel in an effort to secure its own market.
Shipments from India follow a complex route. According to Bloomberg, a Russian tanker loaded 42,000 metric tons of gasoline at the Vadinar refinery in India on June 18.
The cargo was subsequently transshipped to another vessel at the Egyptian port of Damietta, after which the gasoline was delivered to Russia.
Kpler has recorded several more similar shipments, which may indicate that the scheme for importing Indian fuel into Russia is continuing.
Russia sought gasoline from India
Russia's largest energy companies appealed to Indian refineries to increase gasoline supplies due to the impact of Ukrainian strikes on refineries.
Ukrainian long-range strikes have disabled 43% of Russian refinery capacity.
