Saudi Arabia buys diesel from Russia in record volumes and sells at a premium in Singapore – Kommersant

Saudi Arabia’s imports of diesel fuel from Russia hit record highs, reports Reuters. Riyadh sells cheap fuel purchased from Russia mainly to Singapore with a large markup.

Saudi Arabia imported up to 500 thousand tons (3.7 million barrels) of Russian diesel fuel in May, most of which will go to Ras Tanura, where one of Saudi Aramco’s refineries is located, the agency specifies, citing Kpler data. At the same time, according to data from Refinitiv and Vortexa, the volume of diesel fuel from Saudi Arabia entering Singapore will reach a record level of 400 thousand tons. Analysts polled by Reuters directly link the two processes.

Moscow had to divert to Saudi Arabia the volumes of diesel it sold to Europe after the European Union banned the import of oil products in February in retaliation for the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. This allowed state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco to increase its May deliveries to Singapore to a record high and capitalize on better arbitrage in the east compared to Europe, driven by tighter supply in Asia during maintenance season. .

May 28 American newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported on the friction between Saudi Arabia and Russia in the oil sector. According to the publication’s sources, Riyadh was dissatisfied with the fact that Russia did not fully fulfill its promise to cut oil production against the backdrop of Western sanctions. According to the WSJ, representatives of the Saudi government asked their Russian counterparts to comply with the agreed production volumes.

US Department of Energy in March reportedthat the EU countries have replaced the import of diesel fuel from Russia with supplies from Saudi Arabia.

Alexander Kislov