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Russia has increased its oil exports thanks to the introduction of new tankers and the increased practice of reloading oil from ship to ship. However, despite the increase in shipments, logistical problems persist, with loaded vessels forced to stand idle, Bloomberg reports.
At least five new tankers that started operating after the sanctions were imposed increased oil shipments from the Pacific port of Kozmino last week. Another six vessels are currently anchored at the terminal, awaiting loading.
New tankers are also operating in Russian Baltic ports. Following the end of the storm that disrupted logistics, the average volume of oil exports over the past four weeks has grown the fastest since April. In the four weeks to 16 February, Russian oil exports were up 7% week-on-week to 3.03 million barrels per day.
Despite the growth in exports, shipowners are facing difficulties in unloading oil. This forces them to increase the number of tanker-to-tanker transfers to free up specialised shuttle vessels.
Three consignments of Russian Sokol oil exported from Sakhalin Island were loaded onto the supertanker Daban near the Russian port of Nakhodka. The vessel is currently anchored near the Chinese port of Yantai, but according to the tracking system, the cargo has not yet been unloaded.
Another batch was reloaded onto an Aframax Urgane I tanker. Such operations free up shuttle tankers to support Sokol’s oil exports, but Russia will need to engage more vessels in the coming weeks to maintain current supply volumes.
The Sakhalin-2 project has engaged two new tankers, the Galaxy and Voyager, to transport its cargo, as the conventional fleet cannot unload in China due to sanctions. However, the first of these tankers, Galaxy, has already been subject to US sanctions.
