Russia has revised up its September crude export plan from western ports to 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd), an 11% increase from the initial schedule, as drone attacks on domestic refineries reduce local demand for crude, two industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.

Shipments from the ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga, and Novorossiisk are now expected to rise from 1.9 million bpd in the preliminary plan and also from 2.0 million bpd exported in August.

The increase in Urals crude supply is expected to meet extra spot demand in India, where purchases of the grade declined in August, but remain strong despite Western sanctions. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said last week that Indian companies would continue buying Russian oil.

The spot supply of Russian oil has not changed from earlier, the head of finance at Indian Oil Corp IOC, the country’s top refiner, said earlier this week.

Since late August, several Russian facilities have been hit, including Rosneft’s Ryazan refinery early in September and Kuibyshevsk refinery, which halted operations on August 28. Fires also recently broke out at the Afipsky and Krasnodar refineries after Ukrainian drone attacks.
Source: Reuters