Russian oil product exports slumped to a post-pandemic low in April, according to tanker tracking data, as Moscow battles to repair its Western refineries which remain under siege from Ukrainian drones.
Seaborne Russian export loadings of diesel, fuel oil, naphtha and other refined products picked up slightly in the second half of April to average 1.94 million b/d, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea. The April average marks a 360,000-b/d slump on March and almost 700,000 b/d below January levels when Ukraine began a barrage of long-range drone strikes on Russian refining capacity. Flooding also took the 116,000-b/d Orsk refinery offline for two weeks during the month.
The last time Russian product exports fell below 2 million b/d was during the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns in mid-2020.
After a three-week hiatus, Ukraine launched one of its largest drone strikes to date on April 27, when 66 drones were downed over Russia's Krasnodar region, according to Russia's defense ministry, leaving both its Ilsky and Slavyansk refineries damaged. On April 30, a fire broke out at Russia's 342,000 b/d Ryazan refinery after a new drone strike on the facility.
Some 600,000 b/d of refining capacity currently remains offline as Russia rushes to repair damaged units, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights estimates, down from more than 1 million b/d last month.
Russia's biggest fuel exports -- diesel and gasoil -- averaged 737,000 b/d in April, down 137,000 b/d from the previous month and 240,000 b/d since January, the data showed. Russia's April oil product export slump was led by fuel oil, however, which shrank 147,000 b/d on the month and 220,000 b/d since January. Exports of naphtha, gasoline and VGO were down by 72,000 b/d, 58,000 b/d and 61,000 b/d on March respectively.
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