Russia lifts restrictions on fuel exports: what it means

Russia has lifted restrictions on gasoline exports, following the lifting of most restrictions on diesel exports last month. The Russian Federation said that there is an oversupply, and wholesale prices have fallen.

Reuters writes about this, citing a statement by the Russian Energy Ministry on Friday, November 17. This is a ban that Russia imposed on itself at the end of September this year due to the rapid rise in domestic gasoline and diesel prices.

The Russian ministry noted that gasoline stocks have increased to about 2 million metric tons.

"Over the past two months, while maintaining high volumes of oil refining, the domestic market has been saturated and a surplus of supply of motor gasoline has been formed, including in the exchange sales channel. In view of this, it was decided to end the temporary ban on the export of motor gasoline," the Russian Ministry of Energy said in a statement.

The publication, citing information from its own sources in the oil industry, noted that the Kremlin is ready to lift the remaining restrictions in mid-November.

Russia, which is the largest exporter of diesel fuel, imposed a ban on fuel exports on September 21 to overcome high domestic prices and shortages. The ban did not apply to only four post-Soviet states: Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan.

The Russian government eased the restrictions on October 6, allowing diesel exports by pipeline, but left in place measures for gasoline exports. At that time, the supply of diesel and other fuels by road and rail remained prohibited.

As reported, export restrictions were introduced due to the fact that wholesale and retail gasoline prices in Russia broke records in late summer and early fall, and in some regions there was even a shortage of fuel. In addition, in August, Russia lacked transportation capacity. The railroad to the south was especially overloaded (given the direction, this may be closely related to the war in Ukraine and the fact that the military occupied the facilities).

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