Partial easing of U.S. sanctions fails to boost Russia’s oil shipments – intel

This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, according to Ukrinform.

“The decisive factors were ‘infrastructure constraints and force majeure circumstances’ at key export hubs,” the FISU explained.

Citing data from S&P Global Platts, the foreign intelligence service noted that oil transshipment at Russian ports in March decreased to 3.46 million barrels per day, down from 3.49 million bpd in the previous month.

It is noted that a similar trend was observed in the petroleum products segment, where volumes fell to 2.19 million bpd from 2.21 million bpd in February.

The FISU said that the key factor behind the decline was “disruptions in port infrastructure operations”.

“In particular, at the port of Primorsk, shipments fell sharply at the end of the month from over 1.1 million bpd to 732,000 bpd. Ust-Luga also saw a significant decline: oil export volumes fell to 105,000 bpd during the period of March 25-31, compared to 471,000 bpd a week earlier,” the agency reported.

It is also noted that shipments of petroleum products at this port effectively ceased at the end of the month.

As Ukrinform reported, weak air defense and drone attacks are reducing the Kremlin’s oil revenues.

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