Russia plans to cut refinery runs in April, allowing the state to maintain crude oil exports while sticking to previously announced output cuts, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed on Friday.

Russia’s offline primary oil refining capacity will rise by 425,000-455,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April compared to February-March, close to the 500,000 bpd output cut indicted by the state for the March to June period, the data and calculations showed.

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the announced production cut would be from February’s output level of 10.2 million bpd.

Russia’s oil exports from its western ports are expected to rise in March from the previous month despite the production cut, and will likely hold at a similar level next month thanks to the lower refinery runs.

Offline primary oil refining capacity in April is seen rising to 3.19 million tonnes from 1.49 million tonnes in March and 1.23 million tonnes in February, according to the data and calculations.

April and May are typical seasonal refinery maintenance months in Russia, meaning the lower runs will not be a shock for the local market, traders said.

Exports of Russian oil products have to date been more affected by a recent EU embargo than crude, with tonnes of diesel stuck on ships awaiting buyers.

China, India and Turkey have emerged as major buyers of Russian crude.
Source: Reuters (Editing by Kirsten Donovan)