AsianOil: Russian oil exports to Asia decline

Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports in the seven days up to July 1 rebounded from a slump in the previous week, Bloomberg reported on July 4, but deliveries to Asian markets are declining.
The drop in Asian shipments comes despite Russia diverting oil flow to its Black Sea terminal, in order to cut the voyage time to India. Russian exporters have had difficulty in recent months shifting their product onto international markets, given problems with transactions caused by Western sanctions and some buyers shunning cargoes. However, China, India and others have stepped up shipments, taking advantage of the steep discount that Urals and other Russian blends are currently trading at.
Overall crude flow from Russian ports was up 23% week on week, making up for much of the loss the previous week, when shipments briefly ceased from the Baltic port of Primorsk. Nevertheless, shipments to Asia were down by more than 15% on both a weekly and a four-week average basis compared with highs seen at the end of May.

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