Page 132 - RusRPTJan23

The EU has also decided to establish a 45-day transition period after the date
of the introduction of the ceiling on oil prices from Russia. It will apply to
Russian oil loaded before December 5 and unloaded before January 19.
Supplies of oil and oil products from Russia to the G7 countries and the EU in 2021 amounted to 214.7 million tons for a total of $109.5 billion. This is 68–70% of the total export of these goods to the world market. In general, last year crude oil and petroleum products accounted for 37% of total Russian merchandise exports, according to data from the Federal Customs Service.
The Czech Republic will continue receiving Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline’s southern branch for three more years, after which the country will switch to the Transalpine (TAL) Pipeline, online newswire Idnes reported late on Wednesday quoting Prime Minister Petr Fiala. “Czechia will be dependent on oil supplies through the Russian pipeline Druzhba for three more years. But starting from 2025, supplies of strategic crude will be secured through the Transalpine Pipeline TAL, whose capacity will be expanded significantly,” Fiala said as quoted by Idnes. Expansion of TAL’s capacity to 7–8mn tonnes of oil per year has already been approved by the management of the companies that operate the pipeline. The expansion should be finished in two years and cost around 1.2–1.6bn Czech korunas, or $51–68mn, Fiala said.
Germany and Poland have signed a declaration to ensure adequate crude supplies to the Polish oil refineries in Gdansk and Plock and the German oil refineries in Schwedt and Leuna, the German Economy Ministry said in a statement late on December 2. The two countries also acknowledged interdependency of the oil and oil product markets of Poland and Eastern Germany, the ministry said.
In 2022, operators linked to Russia are suspected to have purchased as many as 29 supertankers (VLCCs, very large crude carriers, each capable of carrying more than 2mn barrels),according to the International Energy Agency. The country is likely to have also added 31 Suezmax-sized tankers capable of carrying about 1mn barrels each, and 49 Aframax tankers that can each haul about 700,000 barrels.
VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said in October Russia needed to spend “at least RUB1 trillion ($16.2bn)” for “the tanker fleet’s expansion”. Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak in March said the country would build up its “supply chains” in oil.
Russia already has about 85 tankers of its own and is reported to need a total of 240 to export its oil. The global fleet is around 11,000.
Experts say that Russia faces a shortfall of tanker capacity of between
132 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com