Russia Raised Refinery Throughout Despite Maintenance Season

Russia's refiners have increased output and delayed seasonal maintenances, which led to increased exports, despite the EU embargo and G7 oil price cap, data cited by two industry sources showed, and two traders said.

• Russia’s oil refinery throughput in March rose by around 10% year on year to 24.1mn tons, compared with 22mn tons last year, according to the data and Reuters calculations. March is usually the time when seasonal spring maintenance on refinery plants begins.
• In April, Russia's oil refinery runs are expected to exceed 23mn tons. This would by up by around 17% on the year, as refiners decided to delay routine work for a couple of months to profit from good margins, sources said.
• Last year, Russian oil refineries massively cut runs in March and April during maintenance, as well as because of market uncertainty. This year, Russian refiners are confident they can place the barrels, the traders said.
• Jan-March refinery runs were at nearly 70mn tons, up more than 1% from the same period of last year.
• Since the begin of the embargo on 5 Feb, Russia increased its fuel supplies to Turkey, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, diversifying its fuel sales.