Page 136 - RusRPTMar23

9.1.1b Oil sector news
Just as Russia’s 500,000 barrel a day production cut goes into effect for a month from March 1, the volume of Russian oil exports not only does not decrease, but broke records.
As bne IntelliNews reported the price of Russia’s Urals blend of oil is increasingly meaningless, with a price closer to $74 than $50. The Urals discount to Brent at the end of 2022 was only $7.
In the week of February 17-24, offshore oil exports from Russia rose to 3.63mn barrels per day, Bloomberg writes in its weekly review. This is close to the all- time high of the war: only four times since the beginning of 2022 has Bloomberg recorded a higher weekly figure.
Such a high level of supplies was especially unexpected given that the main Black Sea export port, Novorossiysk, was closed for most of the week due to a storm. But the dropped volumes were more than offset by the growth in supplies from the Far Eastern ports, which, most likely, set a historical record, writes Bloomberg. The main buyers are India (about 2mn b/d) and China (1.1mn).
True, this week the picture may change - from March 1, the reduction in oil production in Russia, which was announced in early February by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, comes into force. Production will be reduced by
136 RUSSIA Country Report March 2023 www.intellinews.com