Russia refocuses oil supply to Asia

According to Izvestia newspaper (Russia), in the context of the US applying a ban on Russian oil imports, deliveries to EU countries will face difficulties in the near future. Some analysts predict that about 3 million barrels of Russian oil and petroleum products per day will be removed from the global market, representing about 3% of world production.

Russia will have difficulty importing oil and gas to Europe due to sanctions. Photo: RT

However, there is another possibility: Russia will reorient its supplies on a large scale to Asia. The president of the Russian Institute of Energy and Finance Marcel Salikhov noted that the country’s oil supply will be re-directed due to current Western restrictions.

“China and India are potential candidates for increasing Russian flows to Asia. In terms of quality, Russian oil is suitable for Chinese refineries, capable of replacing up to 3 million barrels of crude oil per day with the same quality as the supply that China imports from other countries. However, this solution could bring China into conflict with Western countries,” the expert said. this said.

According to the same expert, another option for Moscow is India, which is increasing imports of Russian oil, the main reason being the record discounts, which significantly increase the profits of buyers in the field. oil refining area.

For his part, expert Ivan Timonin of strategic consulting firm VYGON (Russia) said that finding a new market in this case would not be a difficult problem for Russia. In the current context, other suppliers, especially in the Middle East, will also have to redirect their exports to Europe to replace Russia.

Therefore, this will be an opportunity for Russia to increase exports to Asia, as the region is “freeing up” additional supplies. However, the reorientation of Russia’s oil industry “east” (to Asia) will take some time.

So far, despite the embargo, Russian oil exports to the US have continued and even increased. For example, in the week of March 12-18, the US bought 70,000 barrels of Russian oil per day, 80% more than the previous week. This figure is even higher in the European Union (EU), where European countries currently avoid placing an embargo on imports of Russian raw materials.

Cong Thuan