Russia’s crude oil production dipped to 9.326 million barrels (bpd) in December, down by over 100,000 bpd from November and nearly 250,000 bpd lower than Moscow’s OPEC+ quota, sources familiar with classified government data told Bloomberg on Friday.
The fresh U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top producers Rosneft and Lukoil drove the lower crude output at the end of last year. Russian crude volumes accumulated in floating storage amid buyer hesitancy, low spare storage capacity onshore, and Ukrainian drone attacks on export and refining infrastructure that limit Russia’s ability to pump more oil in the face of low spare storage capacity.
Russia has not reported oil production numbers since early 2022 after it classified its energy output data shortly after the invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. sanctions are constraining Russia’s export outlets as Indian refiners backed out of purchases from now-sanctioned entities despite some of them having term agreements with oil giant Rosneft.
The first direct attacks by drones from Ukraine on oil production in Russia also reduced output. In December, two separate attacks halted production at key Lukoil facilities in the Russian section of the Caspian Sea.
Moreover, crude exports from the Russian terminals on the Black Sea were much lower in November than originally planned as bad weather and Ukrainian attacks on infrastructure have delayed loadings and departures.
In addition, oil tankers carrying Russian oil appear to be avoiding the fastest Black Sea route to the Turkish straits and travel along the Georgian and Turkish coasts to avoid drone attacks from Ukraine, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. The detour along the Georgian and Turkish coasts, instead of the shortest route to the Bosphorus Strait, adds about 350 miles, or 70%, to the journey of an oil tanker from the port of Novorossiysk to the Turkish straits.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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