the government will ban the export of gasoline for six months from March 1 – Kommersant

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approved a ban on gasoline exports amid seasonal growth in demand, writes RBC citing a source familiar with the decision. The ban is planned to be introduced for six months, starting March 1, 2024. In addition, according to the publication’s sources, a decision was made to increase the standard for diesel fuel sales on the stock exchange to 16%.

According to RBC, the export ban will not affect supply volumes to the EAEU countries, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The publication notes that Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak approached Mr. Mishustin with a proposal to introduce a temporary ban on exports. On February 21, he sent a letter in which he explained the introduction of such measures by the increased demand for fuel expected in the market. According to the letter, the demand season is due to the period of spring field work, scheduled repairs at refineries, as well as summer holidays.

At the end of January, the head of Gazprom Neft, Alexander Dyukov, on the sidelines of the Russia forum, said that there was a fuel surplus on the domestic market. Then he stated that there was no need to introduce a temporary restriction on fuel exports from Russia.

On January 4, an accident occurred at the Nizhny Novgorod oil refinery of LUKOIL, due to which the work of the enterprise was stopped. Kommersant wrote that the cause of the accident was a breakdown of foreign-made compressor equipment. The Ministry of Energy announced its intention to reduce gasoline supplies to the external market and redirect existing resources between other companies during repair work. Following this, several media outlets reported that a temporary ban on the export of Russian gasoline was being prepared.

Read more about the impact of the accident on the gasoline market in the Kommersant article. “The fuel worries once”.