Russia shipped 35% of petroleum product exports to Asia-Pacific countries in 2023 - deputy PM

MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) - Russia shipped over 35% of its petroleum product exports to countries in the Asia-Pacific region in 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an op-ed in the Energy Policy publication.

Novak said that Russia has redirected "the entire export volume of oil and petroleum products, which dropped following implementation of the sanctions, to new markets."

"The main buyers of Russian oil last year were countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Over 80% of Russian oil and over 35% of petroleum products were shipped to Asia-Pacific countries in general in 2023," Novak said.

As reported previously, friendly countries accounted for 86% of oil exports in 2023 versus 40% in 2021, and 84% of petroleum product exports against 30%, respectively.

Russia has not disclosed the export volume of petroleum products in 2023. The country's volume of oil refining totaled 275 million tonnes of the 530.6 million tonnes produced. Output of motor gasoline totaled 44 million tonnes and diesel fuel totaled 88 million tonnes. Processing intensity rose from 72% in 2000 to 84% in 2023, Novak said.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that Russia exported 2.6 million barrels of petroleum products per day in 2023, with barrels converted into tonnes using various ratios depending on the product, a rise of 100,000 bpd versus 2022 and at the level of 2021.

Economic Development Ministry data indicate that Russia exported 144.1 million tonnes of petroleum products in 2021 and 127.4 million tonnes in 2022.

The outlook for socio-economic development forecasts Russia to export 131.3 million tonnes of petroleum products in 2024, 2025, and 2026, respectively, under the baseline scenario, and that the country shipped 128 million tonnes of petroleum products to foreign markets in 2023.

Russia's oil exports declined 3.3% year-on-year to 234.3 million tonnes in 2023.