Russian fuel market stabilizes partially - Novak
MOSCOW. July 21 (Interfax) - The Russian fuel market has partially stabilized, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said following the latest meeting on the fuel market.
"We see that the measures are yielding results, and the market has already partially stabilized. Restrictions are being lifted in many regions, and this is evident in the number of operating filling stations and the reduction in queues," Novak said during an interview with the Vesti news service.
The government has been paying special attention to fuel supplies to agricultural companies involved in the harvest, Novak said.
"We have once again confirmed the balances for each region, including the supply volumes from specific oil companies to these regions," he said.
Regional operators will coordinate efforts to balance supply and demand between oil companies and farmers, Novak said.
But the situation is still tense in certain regions. "We discussed with companies how to supply these regions with petroleum products today on a case-by-case basis," Novak said.
The meeting also discussed fuel supply to the northern regions. "The season is underway here too, there's a short navigation period, so to ensure that northern locations are supplied with jet fuel and winter diesel fuel, we discussed the status, the volumes already shipped and what additional supplies are needed in detail today," Novak said.
As reported, the traditional surge in fuel demand associated with the 2026 holiday season coincided with a series of unscheduled maintenance shutdowns that affected Russia's oil refining industry in the spring and summer. Against this backdrop, restrictions on fuel sales at filling stations have been introduced in various regions over the past several weeks.
Capacity utilization at operating refineries has been maximized, routine maintenance has been sped up scheduled maintenance has been postponed, stockpiled fuel has been put on the market and oil companies are working more actively with private gas stations under direct contracts. Seasonal fuel supply schedules for farmers have been prioritized, and fuel shipment to northern regions are being monitored.
The Russian government introduced a complete ban on gasoline exports from the beginning of April until the end of July. A ban on diesel fuel exports from Russia was imposed on July 8 and will remain in effect until the end of this month. Russia has also banned exports of jet fuel for five months, from June 1 to November 30.
The thresholds for selling fuel on SPIMEX have been lowered from 15% to 10% of output for gasoline and from 16% to 10% for diesel fuel. Fuel sold on the exchange is being sold directly to the end consumer and resellers are excluded from the supply chain.
