Sales of petroleum products on the SPIMEX exchange broke a record in 2022

Sales of petroleum products at the St. Petersburg International Commodity Exchange (SPIMEX) in 2022 reached a record high and amounted to 29.1 million tons, the press service of the exchange reported on January 13.

SPIMEX Vice President Anton Karpov clarified to reporters that the sale of petroleum products in 2022 increased by 7.8% compared to the previous year, reaching an “absolute record”.

According to the SPIMEX, more than a quarter of all oil products supplied to the domestic market of Russia are traded on it. Over the past year, sales of diesel fuel (by 18.9% to 13.7 million tons) and heating oil (by 19.9% ​​to 1.7 million tons) have grown significantly. The volume of trading in petrochemicals also increased by 25.6%: 324,000 tons were sold during the year. The turnover of the petroleum products section in monetary terms over the past year increased by 3.1% compared to 2021 to 1.4 trillion rubles.

Sales of AI-92 gasoline, specified in SPIMEX, grew symbolically by 1% to 6.25 million tons, sales of AI-95 – by 1.5% to 3.5 million tons. fell by 30.4% year-on-year to 1.4 million tons, while sales of liquefied hydrocarbon gases (LPG) increased by 14.4% to almost 2 million tons.

The derivatives market showed negative dynamics in 2022. The volume of contracts for the sale of diesel on the domestic market fell by 63.8% to RUB 9.7 billion. (64,114 tons, 4986 contracts were signed), and only 300 contracts for the amount of 1.9 billion rubles were signed for the export of diesel. and a supply volume of 30,000 tons, which is 88.9% less than a year earlier.

Against this background, the sale of oil on the stock exchange showed the best result, although the trading volume is still small: they grew 2.6 times to 519,400 tons. The volume of oil trading in monetary terms amounted to almost 17 billion rubles.

2022 was not an easy year for Russian oil refiners due to increased anti-Russian sanctions after the start of the NWO in Ukraine. Countries that have traditionally been the largest buyers of oil products from Russia (the EU and the US) began to refuse supplies. On February 5, 2023, the last of the announced sanctions against domestic petroleum products will come into force – an embargo on their maritime supplies to the EU, as well as a price ceiling. The G7 countries (Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, USA, France and Japan), as well as the EU, plan to set two price ceilings – for more expensive (diesel fuel) and cheaper (fuel oil) oil products.

After the entry into force of the sanctions, Russian companies began to hastily redirect supplies of oil and petroleum products to the Asian market. The largest buyers of Russian oil in 2022 were China, India and Turkey, which purchased raw materials at a discount to the benchmark Brent brand (at highs it was close to $35/bbl, and in December 2022 it was $25-30). But these countries have not become a major market for oil products for Russia, since they have their own serious oil refining capacities.

As a result, Russian oil companies increased the supply of diesel fuel to the domestic market: for 10 months of 2022, the figure, according to the Ministry of Energy, increased by 30% in annual terms to 41.6 million tons (Vedomosti wrote about this on November 9, 2022). Also, according to a study by the consulting company B1, companies increased the supply of petroleum products to the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia and even to Turkey, India and China, but mainly due to low-margin fuel oil (see the issue of December 6, 2022) .

For a number of commodities, the FAS sets sales standards on the SPIMEX exchange, which is designed to create a liquid wholesale commodity market and form price indicators. In a commentary by the press service of the Ministry of Energy to Vedomosti, it was noted that in 2022 the standards for exchange sales of gasoline and diesel fuel were increased by 1 p.p. (up to 12% and 8.5% respectively. – Vedomosti). A further increase in these standards requires a detailed study, taking into account the dynamics of production and consumption of petroleum products, it is said further. Vedomosti also sent a request to the FAS.

Exchange prices for the most liquid types of fuel – diesel and AI-92 gasoline – fluctuated significantly throughout the year. Wholesale prices for AI-92 ranged from 38,400 rubles/t to 48,700 rubles/t. As of January 13, 2023, a ton of AI-92 was sold at the exchange for 35,282 rubles. Prices for summer diesel fuel varied within the limits of 12,000 rubles/t — from 45,700 to 57,500 rubles/t. On January 13, a ton of summer diesel was traded at 43,837 rubles per ton on the stock exchange. Stock prices for both products fell the most in early March 2022, when the decision to tighten anti-Russian sanctions was announced, and then gradually recovered.

The head of the Energy Development Center, Kirill Melnikov, believes that there is no need to increase the rate of exchange sales of petroleum products in Russia. He explained that the growth in the volume of exchange trading in oil products will lead to a decrease in wholesale prices, but this will not significantly affect retail.

Analyst FG “Finam” Alexander Potavin adds that after the entry into force of the EU embargo, about 57% of Russian exports of petroleum products may be banned. Because of this, the refinery, in his opinion, may have problems with the sale of products, and the reduction in production may provoke a decrease in oil production. But in general, according to Potavin, Russia is able to provide for the domestic market, and fuel prices in 2023 “will grow within the limits of inflation.”