Russian fuel floods Middle East

Russian shipments of oil outcomes to the Middle East rose to their most elevated level in at least six years in June, while loads to Europe fell about 30%, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing data from analytics firm Vortexa.

According to the report, Middle Eastern countries imported about 155,000 barrels a day of Russian fuel in June, the most since at least early 2016. The data also shows that imports started growing rapidly in February, when Moscow established its military operation in Ukraine, which prompted EU member forms and other Western nations to impose sanctions on Russia, including its fuel exports.

Nearly a third of all Russian fuel imports went to the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, Vortexa said.

Russian supplies include primarily fuel oil but also contained gasoline, jet and diesel fuel, and a range of other petroleum products.

Analysts expect Russian fuel shipments to the Middle East in July to top June’s and top 220,000 barrels per day.

According to Bloomberg, those shipments account for just a fraction of Russia’s total exports of oil products and cannot offset the drop in shipments to Europe, which fell by over 500,000 barrels a day from February to June.

The EU imposed a partial embargo on Russian oil last month, while already gradually reducing supplies after the US banned Russian oil supplies in March. The EU ban affects offshore supplies of Russian oil and comes into effect in December. Moscow considers the EU and US sanction illegal and is taking steps to diversify exports, including redirecting them to China and India.