/Agencia Reuters
Traders sent nearly 30,000 metric tons of refined fuels to Russia from South Korea, with loading carried out at the end of July, according to maritime tracking data and an industry source.
The deal takes place in a context in which Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure are boosting demand for imports.
At least two short-range tanker vessels were loaded with petroleum products transferred from tanks at the Port of Ulsan bound for Russia’s Far East, according to vessel tracking data from Kpler and Vortexa, in an unusual commercial operation.
One of the vessels has arrived in Russia but has not yet unloaded, according to Kpler data and an industry source. One cargo would include diesel, while another would contain aviation fuel.
Ukrainian forces have been attacking Russian energy infrastructure in what Kyiv describes as an effort to deprive Russia of resources to fund its armed forces.
Moscow extended the export ban on diesel and gasoline until January, although some of the restrictions will be relaxed starting September 1.
Russia is usually a net exporter of diesel. Following Western sanctions imposed on Moscow in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its volumes have been directed mainly to Brazil, Turkey and West Africa.
Last month, Reuters reported that Russia was ready to receive a cargo of aviation fuel of at least 200,000 barrels from Japan through traders, which would be shipped via South Korea; however, multiple industry sources later indicated that said shipment did not materialize.
Tokyo later stated that its ban on aviation fuel exports to Russia includes shipments through third countries or transshipments at sea.
A previous shipment from Northeast Asia to Russia appears to have been 22,000 barrels of aviation fuel from Yeosu, in South Korea, in February 2022, according to vessel tracking data from Kpler. The cargo was delivered in Vladivostok, in the Russian Far East.
