Figure (1) above shows Russia’s weekly exports of clean and dirty products. It shows the large decline in recent weeks as the government banned gasoline exports since March 1 and reduced diesel exports, and as Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s refineries intensified. The decline now form the peak is about 1 mb/d.
Questions
Was the ban on petroleum product exports a cover up for the impact of Ukrainian drone attacks? Or was it because of increased demand within Russia while supplies were limited?
Why crude oil exports have not increased much as refinery utilization decreased? Are the number of ghost tankers larger than what we see?
Perhaps to stabilize gasoline prices at home, OPEC+ quotas come to mind too...https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-is-not-ruling-out-quotas-fuel-exports-deputy-pm-says-2023-07-21/