Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will reduce oil exports from the European ports of Transneft in February, as compared to January. This is reported by Interfax with reference to the transit schedule.
“In general, oil shipment, including transit from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, in February will amount to 4.625 million tons, which is 29% lower than in January”, the report says.
Russian companies will also reduce oil exports. According to the report, oil exports by Russian companies from the European ports of Transneft are expected to decrease in February by 34%, to be 3.36 million tons.
Russian experts explain this situation in Russia by the fact that oil-producing companies, against the background of rising wholesale fuel prices inside the country, are preparing to redirect oil from exports to refineries.
In particular, Kommersant reports that according to the preliminary plan, , export oil shipments from the ports of the European part of the Russian Federation may drop by a third in February, as compared to January.
The Ministry of Energy of Russia has been for some time seeking to increase the refineries utilization rate, but Kommersant’s sources believe that now the redirection of flows has become profitable for oil companies.
Turkmenistan consistently ranks second in oil exports through Russian ports after Kazakhstan.