Page 134 - RusRPTJul22

9.0 Industry & Sectors 9.1 Sector news
9.1.1a Oil & gas sector results
Oil production in Russia began to recover after the spring fall. In the context of the European embargo on Russian oil announced in May, Russia increased production by almost 5% in June. At the same time, the export of Russian raw materials decreased by 3%, but oil refining is growing due to seasonal demand for fuel within the country and an increase in the supply of petroleum products to Africa. And oil supplies to India and China have increased significantly. So it is too early to talk about a steady trend towards a decrease in exports and oil production, experts say. At the same time, Russian oil is no longer being sold at such a huge discount as it was in mid-spring.
The increase in production is reported by Kommersant, citing sources familiar with the statistics. According to them, oil production for the incomplete first month of summer increased by almost 5%, to 1.46mn tonnes per day (10.7mn bpd). This is less than in January-February (about 11mn bpd), but more than in April, when the most significant decline in production was observed (1.37mn tonnes per day). Production has stabilized at all major Russian companies, while at Rosneft it is growing by 15%, the newspaper notes.
The export of Russian oil in June decreased by 3.3%. A significant part of European exports was redirected to other markets. "A holy place is never empty. New traders have appeared - no longer European, but Russian and Asian. Our companies have reorganized, found new forms and ways of working with counterparties - through traders or directly," Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in mid-June. We talked about the mysterious traders who began trading Russian oil under the sanctions here.
The extra oil produced in June went to refineries, which ramped up capacity amid seasonal increases in fuel demand. Deliveries for processing increased by 8%, Kommersant sources say. Demand for gasoline began to grow, including due to the intensification of domestic tourism.
In addition, exporters began to adapt to the sanctions - the volume of gasoline exports for May and for the first 25 days of June in average daily terms exceeded the levels of the same months last year by 28% and 20%, respectively. Purchases of oil products from Russia are increasing African countries, analysts say. India's oil purchases have risen more than 50 times since April. Oil imports from Russia to China reached record levels in May. So,
134 RUSSIA Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com