Oil Products Summary European Close: Russia Partly Lifts Diesel Ban

Diesel markets regain some ground after an initial move lower in response to the easing of some restrictions on Russian fuel exports. The ban on Russian pipeline diesel exports via ports will be lifted immediately but Russia has imposed a prohibitive fuel duty for gray exporters and companies must supply no less than 50% of diesel to the local market.

• The partial easing of the ban will see the resumption about 1.4-1.5m metric tons of diesel exports in October according to TASS citing Sergey Kondratyev at the Institute of Energy and Finance. The Russian exports would be two times less than before the ban.
• Even after the resumption, domestic fuel supplies of 5.4-5.8m metric tons will still create a surplus to at least 1m metric tons, he added. "It means refineries will have to revise production plans. I believe the government will revisit the discussion of constraints by the end of October and they will be softened for gasoline as well," Kondratyev said.
• Gasoil OCT 23 up 0.4% at 872.25$/mt
• ULSD NOV 23 up 1.6% at 2.92$/gal
• Gasoil OCT 23-NOV 23 up 1.75$/mt at 23.25$/mt
• Gasoil DEC 23-DEC 24 down -0.25$/mt at 74.75$/mt
• EU Gasoil-Brent up 1.2$/bbl at 26.14$/bbl
• US ULSD crack up 1.6$/bbl at 39.95$/bbl
• A fire at the H2 compressor system at the Valero Corpus Christi West refinery has been contained according to a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality filing.
• Exxon Mobil’s Fos-sur-Mer 133kb/d refinery in southern France plans to restart the refinery’s gas turbine on Friday afternoon according to a community alert.
• International air travel remains behind pre-pandemic levels according to recent figures by industry body IATA for peak summer months. International traffic increased 30% year-over-year in August and stands at 88.5% of 2019 levels.
• Chinese refiners may continue to boost exports in October, as the remaining quotas for Q4 are estimated at above 10mt according to Vortexa.