Russian govt so far sees no preconditions to lift ban on export of winter diesel fuel - minister

MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) - The Russian government so far sees no preconditions to lift the ban on export of winter diesel fuel, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov told reporters on Sunday.

"No," he said, answering a relevant question.

As reported, during the high demand season in the summer of 2023, a pricing crisis emerged on the Russian fuel market due to a number of reasons. The situation worsened towards the end of summer, when, at the height of the harvesting campaign, farmers began to complain about high prices for petroleum products, as well as fuel shortages that were occurring in some places.

For a long time, neither the government nor the oil companies could resolve the situation; as a result, the government took tough measures, banning the export of fuel from the country as of September 21. The export duty on petroleum products for non-producers was also increased. Prohibitive measures were lifted gradually. On November 17, the ban on the export of gasoline was lifted, and on November 22, on the export of summer diesel fuel as well. The embargo on the export of winter diesel fuel from Russia continues to be in effect.

While the pricing crisis continued, Russian Deputy Prime Minster Alexei Novak held meetings on the fuel market's problems, demanding an increase in the exchange sales of petroleum products and a reduction in prices at the pump. Gradually, the price situation returned to normal; currently, exchange prices for gasoline are decreasing and have already reached the level of February 2023.

Rosstat data show that retail gasoline prices in October 2023 decreased for the first time since February of this year, falling 1.57% from the previous month following a 2.11% increase in September, a 2.5% increase in August, and a 2.2% increase in July. In November, the decline in gasoline prices slowed to 0.71%. Over the 11 months of 2023, gasoline prices increased 7.2% (with overall inflation at 6.64%).

Retail prices for diesel fuel in November increased 0.3% month-on-month after falling 1.5% in October, jumping 6.2% in September, rising 4.1% in August, and growing 0.8% in July.