Belarus quadrupled petrol exports to Russia in September, says Reuters

Belarusian rail-transported petrol exports to Russia increased fourfold in September compared with the previous month.

Source: Reuters, citing industry sources

Details: Russia boosted fuel imports from Belarus last year to cover its domestic shortages.

According to Reuters' sources, deliveries of petrol from Belarusian refineries to the Russian domestic market rose to 49,000 tonnes last month, or about 14,500 barrels per day, while diesel supplies in September totalled 33,000 tonnes.

Transit of Belarusian petrol for onward export via Russian ports grew by around 1% last month, reaching 140,000 tonnes.

Belarus has been using Russian ports for transshipment of its oil products since March 2021 under a cooperation agreement between Moscow and Minsk.

However, according to the sources and Reuters calculations, such transshipments fell by almost 40% year-on-year to 1.17 million tonnes between January and September due to lower refining volumes.

Belarus's two refineries, Naftan and Mozyr, each have an annual capacity of 12 million tonnes (around 240,000 barrels per day), although they usually process about 9 million tonnes annually, or roughly 180,000 barrels per day.

Background:

• Petrol supplies from Belarus to Russia through the St Petersburg Exchange recently resumed after nearly a year-long pause that began in autumn 2024.
• Fuel shortages have been observed in 20 regions of Russia and in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine following Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil refineries.
• Since 24 September, all grades of petrol, including the most expensive A100, have completely disappeared from petrol stations in annexed Crimea.
• On 29 September, petrol sales in the Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol in Crimea were restricted due to fuel shortages.
• The Russian government has extended the temporary ban on petrol exports and imposed restrictions on other types of fuel.
• Sergei Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea, recently announced stricter limits on fuel sales at petrol stations on the peninsula.

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