Russia’s Crude Shipments Scrape Gain to Offset Pipeline Losses
Increases in seaborne flows make up for lost piped volumes to Hungary, Slovakia
Russia shipped 3.44 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Feb. 22, as the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine enters its fifth year.
Russia’s crude shipments eked out another weekly increase, with gains since late January matching a loss in piped volumes to Hungary and Slovakia. Without the apparent diversion of those flows, seaborne exports would have stagnated.
Volumes averaged 3.44 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Feb. 22, according to vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. They nudged up from the period to Feb. 15, rising for a fifth week, but were still down by about 420,000 barrels a day from the pre-Christmas peak.