Russia's crude exports plunge by 54% in first week under G-7 sanctions, Bloomberg
Oil tanker, illustrative photo (Photo:Vesselfinder)
Russian seaborne oil shipments have collapsed, dropping in volume by 54% in the first full week under G-7 sanctions meant to limit the Kremlin's revenues from oil exports, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Dec. 20.
The four-week average also dropped to a new low for 2022.
This drop is partly attributed to repair works in one of the Baltic Sea's ports that has already been finished. It is also partly due to a lack of shipowners being willing to transfer Russian crude oil from an export facility in Asia.
Some other ports showed week-over-week declines.
The volume of Russian oil exports via the Baltic Sea's ports is expected to regain its pre-repair level, while the problem in Asia might take much longer to resolve.
Bloomberg said the EU ban for seaborne oil shipments has blocked the nearest oil market for Russia, which accounted for half of all Russian oil exports at the beginning of the year. Apart from small amounts of shipments to Bulgaria, seaborne oil shipments to NATO states have completely ceased.
The volume of oil carried by tankers bound to China, India and Turkey and the volume of oil carried by tankers that have not yet indicated their final destination fell to an average of 2.53 million barrels per day in the four weeks to Dec. 16.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said that the price cap on Russian oil has two goals: to limit the revenue that Russia receives and then spends for the war against Ukraine, and to keep global prices in a moderate range.
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