Russian to cut oil exports from Black Sea

Russian oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil will sharply cut oil exports from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk in July as the companies resume operations at their refineries, reports Reuters

Combined Novorossiisk oil loadings by Rosneft and Lukoil in July will fall by some 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) as compared to last month.

Last week Russian government decided to continue with unrestricted gasoline exports in July, extending the waiver for a partial ban on overseas fuel sales, as Russia's domestic oil plants produce enough oil products to meet peak seasonal demand despite a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries.

Rosneft oil exports from Novorossiisk are set to fall to 0.62 million metric tons in July from 1.06 million tons in June, while its Tuapse refinery is set to resume crude runs this month.

Lukoil's exports from the port will fall to 0.19 million tons in July from 0.58 million tons last month.

Lukoil restarted a key piece of equipment for oil processing, the CDU-6 crude distillation unit, at its NORSI refinery, Russia's fourth-largest, following a drone attack in March.

Rosneft and Lukoil did not reply to Reuters requests for comments.

Novorossiisk total oil loadings in July were set at 1.8 million tons, down from 2.9 million tons in June.

Russia's overall oil exports and transit from its western ports in July are expected to decline from June amid higher refinery runs and Moscow's pledge to stick to OPEC Plus output cuts.