Weekly snapshot ‑ Russian fossil fuels 6 to 12 February 2023

The week of 6 to 12 February 2023, Russia’s crude oil export volumes and revenues fell, after rebounding for several weeks from the lows reached after the start of the EU import ban. The volume and value of shipments of oil products and chemicals continued to slide.

China continued as the largest importer of Russian fossil fuels last week. The other importers in the top five were the EU, India, Turkey and Singapore.

China’s imports consisted of crude oil, coal, pipeline gas and LNG. The EU imported pipeline oil and gas, oil products and chemicals and LNG. India and Turkey imported crude oil, coal and oil products and chemicals, and Singapore crude oil.

All of the top five ports importing Russian fossil fuels were in Asia, with crude oil dominating as the imported commodity.

The top five EU importer countries last week were Slovakia, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands and Hungary.

The share of tankers covered by the price cap in crude oil shipments out of Russia has fallen to just below 50%.

For oil products and chemicals, the coverage of the price cap coalition was about 60%. The shares of ownership and insurance of vessels carrying Russian fossil fuels within the price cap coalition are higher for shipments departing from Russia’s Arctic, Baltic and Black sea ports, but much lower for shipments departing from Pacific ports.

The amount of oil‑on‑water for crude oil decreased, while oil products on water increased. The LNG glut seems to ease as Russia has cut back shipments.

Urals crude prices were just above USD 50 per barrel, remaining below the price cap level of USD 60. However, the East Siberia–Pacific Ocean (ESPO) price, mainly applying to Chinese purchases, has remained above the price cap at around USD 70.

Shipments in the last week

The weekly update of Russian fossil fuel exports was prepared by Meri Pukarinen, Europe-Russia Policy Officer, CREA; and Jan Lietava, Data Scientist/Engineer, CREA.

Note on methodology:
Dates featured are the date the arrival of the shipment was captured by our algorithm. 80% of arrivals for
shipments are found within 4 days of the arrival portcall in the specific port. For our oil products and chemicals
commodity group, please note this contains a wider range of items than just those specified in the current
sanctions, as of 2022‑02‑05. More information at:
https://energyandcleanair.org/