Oil slips as risk premium eases after Iran attack
Russia’s seaborne oil product exports fell in March, calculations show
Oil prices drifted lower on Monday, with the market downplaying the risk of broader regional conflagration after Iran’s weekend attack on Israel.
Brent futures for June delivery fell 81 cents, or about 0.9 percent, to $89.64 a barrel by 1335 GMT while West Texas Intermediate futures for May delivery were down 69 cents, or about 0.8 percent, at $84.97.
Oil benchmarks had risen on Friday in anticipation of Iran’s retaliatory attack, with prices touching their highest since October.
Iran produces more than 3 million barrels per day of crude oil as a major producer within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Hostilities in the Middle East centered on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza have had little tangible impact on oil supply so far. “If the crisis does not escalate to a point that creates supply disruptions, then there will be downside risk over time, but only once it becomes clear Israel has chosen a measured response,” said Amrita Sen, founder and director of research at Energy Aspects.
Russia’s seaborne oil product exports
Russia’s seaborne oil product exports fell 4.2 percent in March from the previous month to 10.178 million tonnes due to unplanned maintenance at refineries and a fuel export ban, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed. Russia’s daily offline primary oil refining capacity has jumped by around a third in March to 4.079 million tonnes from February due to drone attacks, Reuters calculations based on data from industry sources showed.
Last month, a fire broke out after a Ukrainian drone attack at the Norsi refinery, Russia’s fourth largest refinery owned by Lukoil, and at three oil refineries, controlled by Rosneft: Ryazan, Syzran and Kuibyshev.
Russia also imposed a six-month ban on gasoline exports from March 1 to keep domestic prices stable. Total oil product exports via the Baltic ports of Primorsk, Vysotsk, St. Petersburg and Ust-Luga last month decreased 9.7 percent from
February to 5.680 million tonnes, data from market sources showed. Fuel exports via Russia’s Black Sea and Azov Sea ports rose in March by 7.2 percent from the previous month to 3.741 million tonnes.
Oil products export supplies from Russia’s Arctic ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk fell last month by 64.4 percent from February to 43,400 tonnes.
Fuel export loadings at Russia’s Far East ports decreased by 1.6 percent in March month-onmonth to 713,000 tonnes, data from sources and Reuters calculations showed.