Russian oil companies have recently increased supplies of gasoline and naphtha to Africa and the Middle East from the Baltics, traders said. In May, Russian fuel oil arrivals in the UAE oil hub of Fujairah also jumped sharply. "Sohar (in Oman) and Fujairah (in UAE) could offer storage and blending capacities for all these barrels, while European ports have started to refuse Russian oil products", a market source involved in Russian oil product trading said. Previously Russia exported gasoline and naphtha to European trading hubs, but has had to look to Africa and the Middle East amid weak demand in Europe, traders said. Russian gasoline traded $250-300 per tonne below non-sanctioned European product, which was most recently assessed at around $1,330 per tonne on FOB basis.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 24, 2022 02:52 UTC