Belarus reduces supplies of Russian oil
Belarus will purchase 400 tons less Russian oil in May than in April: 1,13 instead of 1,56 million tons.
This was reported by the Belneftekhim company, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The decrease in supplies will not occur due to the purchase of “alternative” oil. Minsk has already trumpeted that a tanker with 80 tons of Saudi oil is waiting at the port of Klaipeda, but this will not significantly change the monthly balance.
The main reason for the decrease in supplies is that due to the fall in demand on the world market, Belarusian refineries will process 39,5% less oil. For the same reason, the Mozyr Oil Refinery will undergo scheduled repairs.
“Recycling volumes are determined by the market. Demand will grow, and then refining volumes will also grow,” said Belneftekhim press secretary Alexander Tishchenko.
Even in the first two months of 2020, that is, before the pandemic, the export of Belarusian petroleum products decreased by 62,4% compared to last year. Then this was due to an oil shortage due to a decrease in supplies from Russia.
In order to compete for the market, Belarus has reduced export duties on oil and petroleum products exported outside the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union by 8 times since May 1.
Against this background, purchases of expensive “alternative oil” look strange. Moreover, physically the same Norwegian oil turned out to be Russian, purchased through traders, but its price is still higher than that of pipeline oil by at least 17%. Despite this, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko continues to insist that 25% of raw materials should be purchased not in Russia. Belarus could lose almost $400 million on these dubious transactions.
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