Page 144 - RusRPTJul24

from April to about 4mn metric tonnes, helped by completion of seasonal maintenance. The European Union's full embargo on Russian oil products went into effect in February 2023 and the bulk of Russia's fuel oil and VGO was redirected to other regions, mostly Asia. In May direct fuel oil and VGO shipments from Russian ports to India increased to 0.7mn tonnes from 0.6mn tonnes the previous month. Russian fuel oil loadings to China rose last month to about 520,000 tonnes from 450,000 tonnes in April, Reuters calculations and LSEG data show. China and India import straight-run fuel oil and VGO for refining, partially replacing more expensive Urals barrels, traders said.
India increased the share of oil supplies from Russia to 41% in April from 34% in March, according to the June OPEC report referring to the data from the analytical agency Kpler. In April, share of India’s oil imports from Iraq was 21%, and share of imports from Saudi Arabia was 12%. India's total oil imports in April increased by 7% month-on-month to 5.2mn barrels per day (bpd).
In addition, according to OPEC, in April, Russia accounted for 21% of China's total oil imports up from 20% a month earlier. Saudi Arabia accounted for 14% of supplies, Iraq and Malaysia accounted for 12% and 9% respectively. In general, according to OPEC estimates, China's oil imports in April decreased by 6% compared to March and amounted to 10.9 million bpd.
9.1.1c Gas sector news
LNG is now the dominant form of trade in gas, overtaking the trade in piped gas. Even if all the Russian pipeline gas would return, LNG would still be a larger market than pipeline gas. These two lines will continue to diverge as most investment flows into creating more LNG supply.
144 RUSSIA Country Report July 2024 www.intellinews.com