Close ally reveals fuel supplies to Russia
Belarus has delivered diesel and gasoline to Russia following requests from its neighbor, and is ready to further boost supplies if needed, President Alexander Lukashenko announced during a visit to Moscow on Friday.
The Belarusian leader was quoted by Sputnik as saying that his country has shipped 60,000 tons of diesel and gasoline to Russia. The two nations share a common market within the Union State.
“We supplied as much as the Russian Federation needed. If it will be necessary to further cut exports on external markets and boost domestic supplies, it’s not a problem, we will stabilize the situation on our common markets,” Lukashenko declared.
Diesel shortfalls have been recorded in some parts of Russia, reportedly prompting Moscow to consider slashing its exports from ports on the Baltic and the Black Sea.
Russia plans to reduce fuel exports by almost 25% this month compared to August amid seasonal refinery maintenance and government efforts to keep more fuel at home to ease growth in domestic prices, Bloomberg reported last week, citing industry data.
Diesel loadings from Russia’s key ports are set at 1.874 million tons this month, which is the equivalent of 466,000 barrels a day. They are down from about 600,000 barrels a day in August due to limited refinery throughput, calculations showed.
Russia’s schedule for diesel exports in September represents the lowest shipment plan since May this year, when spring refinery maintenance was in place.
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