Russia's Oil Exports Prove Resilient Against Drone Attacks

Russia maintained oil shipments through its key western ports in April at the previous month's level despite drone attacks that temporarily disrupted operations. The attacks affected ports and pipeline infrastructure in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, limiting loading in late March and early April, but overall supplies were not reduced.

Crude oil exports and transits from the ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk amounted to around 2.2 million barrels per day, in line with revised March figures. Ust-Luga suspended exports on 25 March after a series of attacks and resumed them on 7 April, with loadings at their lowest point at the start of the month. Novorossiysk resumed some transshipment on 9 April after a four-day outage.

Market participants expect exports could increase in May due to better weather, a surplus of crude oil and stockpiled inventories, barring further disruptions. New attacks could, however, affect those plans.

The resumption of supplies via the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary could reduce pressure on ports. Conversely, halting transit from Kazakhstan to Germany would bring additional volumes to Russian ports.

(reuters, max)