In March, Russian fuels have sold in volumes unseen for a long time, with buying spurred by deep discounts, a Hungarian economic daily writes.

Despite EU sanctions, Russia’s diesel exports are likely to reach highs unseen for years. Although many expected a decline in Russian exports of refined oil products, Moscow has managed to maintain the volume of its diesel deliveries thanks to new buyers such as Turkey, Morocco and others, the Hungarian daily Vilaggazdasag writes.

Russia was able to export one and a half million barrels of diesel type fuels per day until 19 March, Bloomberg writes, citing data from Vortexa. If this level is sustained, Russia’s deliveries are to reach the biggest volumes since early 2016.

independent US-based oil product analyst Mikhail Turukalov said. Russian refineries „seem quite confident that they can sell their volumes to foreign buyers – the discounts they offer are deep enough and there are new markets for the fuel,” the expert added.

The export boom, however, is unlikely to last long, as Russian ports are planning to load fewer shipments in April than in March, indicate. A significant share of exports go to Turkey, but Morocco, Brazil, Tunisia and even Saudi Arabia have also become major importers. Increasing volumes of Russian fuel are being stored on tankers and other vessels, which may indicate that it is not so easy to replace the country’s biggest customer.

Russia has redirected most of its energy supplies to friendly countries in 2022, with oil exports to India increasing 22-fold, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a meeting of the Russian Energy Ministry’s body on Tuesday.

The country’s exports to China grew by 8 per cent, and shipments to other markets also increased, which is a result of the great work being done in the industry, Mr Novak added. Fuel and energy revenues accounted for 42 per cent of the Russian budget, compared to 36 per cent in 2021.