Ports in Baltic states still handling Russian oil products - data

Metrocon Holdings

27/05/2021 11:20

MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - The sea ports in Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia are still playing an active role in the
export of Russia's oil products despite Moscow's pledges to
completely cut the transit, traders said and Refinitiv Eikon
data showed on Thursday.
    Russia has increased its crude oil and oil product exporting
capacity on the Baltic Sea, seeking to cut its dependence on
other outlets amid political tensions with neighbouring
ex-Soviet republics.
    In spring of 2016 Russia suspended rail shipments of fuel
oil and VGO (vacuum gasoil) from domestic oil plants to the
ports of Latvia and Estonia, while rail exports of light refined
products via the ports of the Baltic states have been banned
since May 2017.
    As a result, traders have switched to other shipping routes:
Russia's Ust-Luga started switching transhipments of VGO from
rail to sea vessels, and some volumes of VGO and alkylates were
shipped by river-sea vessels along the Volga-Baltic canal to the
ports of Sillamаe in Estonia and Klaipeda in Lithuania.
    However, Latvia's and Estonia's terminals continue to
receive and tranship fuel of Russian origin, which is delivered
by sea from the ports of Ust-Luga, St. Petersburg and Vysotsk.
    Sea exports of gasoline and naphtha from Russian Baltic and
Arctic ports to the ports of Baltic states have grown almost
six-fold in five years - from 0.5 million tonnes in 2015 to 2.86
million in 2020, of which 2.53 million tonnes accounted for 
shipment from Ust-Luga, the data from Refinitiv Eikon showed.
    The Latvian port of Ventspils accounts for about half of the
total volume, some 20% ends up in the Estonian port of Paldiski.
    Seaborne exports of fuel oil from Russian Baltic ports to
Estonia in 2020 rose to 1.4 million tonnes from 0.45 million
tonnes in 2019 and continues to rise in 2021, with over 0.77
million tonnes delivered since the start of the year, Refinitiv
data shows.     
    In the spring of 2020, when the global demand for oil
products plummeted due to coronavirus lockdowns across the
world, traders used the massive tank farms in Baltic ports to
store excess volumes of Russian fuel. 
    In addition to storage itself, the tank farms in Latvia,
Estonia and Lithuania offer a verity of opportunities for
segregating oil products, as well as providing different
blending options - a service that is practically not available
in Russia's Baltic ports.

 (Natalia Chumakova, Gleb Gorodyankin, writing by Vladimir
Soldatkin; editing by David Evans)
 ((Gleb.Gorodyankin@thomsonreuters.com; +7 495 775 12 42;
Reuters Messaging:
gleb.gorodyankin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))