Russia is increasing oil exports from its main eastern port of Kozmino by about a fifth to meet high demand from Asian buyers and offset the impact of European Union (EU) sanctions, three sources told Reuters.
The Russian government has said it hopes to redirect energy exports from the West to Asia, but doing so via long tanker voyages from European seaports is expensive and complicated by economic sanctions.
Russia’s pipeline monopoly, Transneft, increased by 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) the amount of crude pumped into Kozmino via its main oil route to Asia, the East Siberian-Pacific Ocean pipeline (ESPO), by using chemical additives to speed up the flow of oil, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Transneft did not respond to requests for comment.
Russia also plans to ship an additional 80,000 bpd of so-called ESPO Blend crude to Kozmino by rail from Meget, a route previously used to supply Kozmino and domestic refineries when the ESPO pipeline was under construction, the sources said.
The additional supplies are expected to allow Kozmino to increase total loadings to 900,000 bpd in the coming months, from an average of 750,000 bpd so far this year, they added.
In 2021, Kozmino loaded 720,000 bpd.
ESPO’s oil exports through Kozmino are expected to reach an all-time high of 880,000 barrels a day in July, two of the sources said.
Last week the European Union announced an embargo on Russian oil, in which it stated that it intends to stop importing 90% of oil and products from Russia by the end of this year.
It also lays off employees.
IBM stops operating in Russia
International Business Machines Corporation is liquidating its business in Russia and has begun laying off its employees in the country, according to a staff memo sent out last week.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February, IBM joined hundreds of other companies in suspending business in the country.
Many other firms announced a complete exit from Russia.
“As the fallout from the war continues to mount and uncertainty about its long-term ramifications grows, we have made the decision to conduct an orderly liquidation of IBM’s business in Russia,” CEO Arvind Krishna wrote. to the employees.
Earlier in May, Krishna mentioned that he was unsure how much longer the company would be able to pay its employees in Russia, in light of escalating sanctions.
An IBM spokesman said there are several hundred employees in Russia.