In August alone, imports of petroleum products into Russia by sea, that is, from foreign countries, exceeded 300 thousand tonnes. It is highly likely that the entire volume or the overwhelming majority consisted of petrol, which has been in short supply at petrol stations (PS). Queues formed for its purchase. Approximately 160 thousand tonnes were delivered to Murmansk, while the remainder went to the Baltic ports. Supplies were made from India, Morocco, and Turkey. There were also reports in the media about the delivery of Egyptian fuel to Arkhangelsk and petrol from South Korea to Vladivostok.
The main issue with imported petrol in Russia is its price. All the aforementioned exporting countries are also crude oil importers. It cannot be ruled out that the petrol they supplied to us was produced from Russian crude oil. As explained in an interview with "RG" by Victoria Trifonova, senior analyst at the analytical centre "Yakob and Partners", imported fuel includes not only the cost of the petrol itself but also maritime freight, insurance, transhipment, and subsequent transportation within Russia. Additional factors include infrastructural constraints regarding the reception, transhipment, and pouring of petroleum products at Russian ports. For suppliers, selling such petrol on the exchange means either setting a significantly higher price or selling with inadequate margins.
Indeed, in August, when trades of petrol from abroad were feasible on the exchange, it was sold at a price of 105 thousand roubles per tonne, which was 39% higher than the then-current exchange quotes for A-92 (75,530 roubles per tonne). Currently, the quotes stand at 69,819 roubles per tonne, yet imported petrol has hardly become cheaper.
However, the absence of exchange transactions now and the fact that only a little over a thousand tonnes were transacted in August does not imply that Indian or Moroccan petrol is not being sold. For instance, in August, Russia imported 188 thousand tonnes of Belarusian petrol (with supplies transported by rail and road), of which only 26 thousand tonnes passed through the exchange.
Most of the sea-imported fuel is sold through direct contracts, bypassing the exchange, believes Sergey Frolov, managing partner of NEFT Research. Direct supplies are noticeably increasing: if in August the "First Murmansk Terminal" sent about 10 thousand tonnes of fuel (directly) to the domestic market, then in the incomplete month of September, over 20.4 thousand tonnes have already been sent. This means that the fuel is being distributed to petrol stations—including major oil companies—directly, without public trades, he emphasises.
If there is no imported petrol on the exchange, it does not mean that it is unavailable in Russia, confirms Dmitry Gusev, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the "Reliable Partner" Association and member of the Expert Council of the "Petrol Station of Russia" competition. The role of exchange trading in Russia has significantly diminished, as regulations mandating compulsory petrol sales through the exchange for large oil companies have been reduced from 15% to 10%, prioritising direct contracts between suppliers and buyers. The exchange now serves merely as a price reference, as it does not reflect the actual state of the market, and its role in price formation is minimal.
There are drawbacks to this situation. As Trifonova notes, the more fuel is allocated through direct contracts, the lower the role of the exchange as a public price indicator, and the more challenging access to fuel supplies becomes for independent petrol stations (more than half in Russia) that are not owned by major oil companies. It is particularly difficult for smaller networks lacking established logistics. Balancing the market is essential: the ability to quickly redistribute scarce resources through direct contracts, on one hand, and maintaining sufficient transparency and competition, on the other hand, is crucial, the expert asserts.
Additionally, the government is discussing measures to enhance the attractiveness of imported fuel for our market. A damping mechanism has already been applied to these supplies. This is a subsidy from the budget that compensates importers for part of the difference between the indicative wholesale prices (set by the government for a year) in Russia and the fuel prices on international markets. Delivery costs are also accounted for, but only up to the Russian port.
The main supplier of petrol to Russia from abroad is BelarusRecently, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov stated that the Ministry of Finance is ready to consider a proposal from the Ministry of Energy to include the costs of transporting fuel from Russian ports to consumption regions in the damping calculations.
Trifonova believes that accounting for the transportation costs of imported fuel within Russia could significantly enhance the economics of such supplies. However, this measure will not bring imported fuel back to the exchange.
Frolov clarifies that there is also a discussion regarding the extension of the zero import duty on petrol until mid-2027 (currently valid until the end of 2026). Yet, the Ministry of Finance does not currently support the accounting of the foreign premium (the difference between the purchase price and the exchange indicative), arguing that its size cannot be accurately determined. In other words, the approach is to compensate for logistics within the country, but not to subsidise the procurement price abroad, emphasises the expert.
A question remains about how critical sea deliveries of imported fuel are for us at the moment. According to Sergey Tereshkin, CEO of Open Oil Market, it can be confidently stated that supplies from India or Turkey do not currently play a significant role. This is their key difference from supplies coming from Belarus. The share of Belarusian supplies in petrol consumption in Russia has increased from 2% to 6%. In certain regions, this share may be even higher. Establishing infrastructure for supplies from foreign countries is a complex task, especially now, when global oil refining is at multi-year lows, and the underloading of Middle Eastern refineries has already become one of the reasons for the shortage in the global fuel market.
Source: RG.RU
