Russia has sent record volumes of sea-borne fuel oil and vacuum gasoil (VGO) to Singapore and Malaysia in March, adding to oversupplied Asian markets, traders said and Refinitiv data showed.
The European Union’s full embargo on Russian oil products came into effect on Feb. 5 and the bulk of Russia’s fuel oil and VGO was redirected to other regions, mostly Asia, long before the deadline.
According to Refinitiv data, in March fuel oil and VGO shipments from Russian ports to Singapore and Malaysia could exceed 1.1 million tonnes, in line with loadings from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In total, Russian fuel oil and VGO exports could be at their highest since October, 2022, and reach more than 4.5 million tonnes, as traders look to get rid of surplus volumes after loading delays in February due to storm weather.
Meanwhile, Fujairah as a major trading hub in the UAE has also received volumes of Russian dirty oil products, which could total this month at least 300,000 tonnes.
Some Russian oil products are shipped to Asia via ship-to-ship (STS) loadings, and this month dirty oil product flows from Russian ports to STS loadings near Kalamata port are expected to reach between 0.8 and 1.0 million tonnes, Refinitiv figures showed.
Several tankers loaded in Russian ports also have no final destinations yet, so the real total of fuel oil shipments in March from Russia to Singapore and Malaysia could be much higher than 1 million tonnes, traders said.
“I believe that a huge part of those supplies will be `on the water`, for storage”, one trader said.
About 350,000-400,000 tonnes of fuel oil and VGO loaded from Russian ports in March could end up in Turkey, while supplies to India have fallen drastically to less than 100,000 tonnes, according to Refinitiv data.
