Exports of Siberian Light oil from the Black Sea’s Novorossiisk fell to 0.08 million tonnes in March, the lowest level since October 2022, due to storms, two traders familiar with the port’s loadings said.

Russneft will load the only cargo of Siberian Light oil on March 15-16 this month, traders said. In February, five cargoes totalling 0.4 million tonnes were shipped from the port.

According to traders, the decline in exports of Siberian Light oil is due to storms in the Black Sea that resulted in a suspension in loadings and overstocking.

“There is just no space, though suppliers would prefer exports if they could,” one of the traders said, adding that the volumes were diverted to the domestic market.

Novorossiisk suspended oil loadings from the port again on Friday. As of Monday, the terminal was still closed, though some operations had resumed over the weekend when the weather allowed, the traders said.

Siberian Light is a Russian grade of light sweet oil from Western Siberia, which is exported from Novorossiisk. The grade is normally sold at a premium to Urals, which provides better economics for exporters. Traders were unable to assess the current value of Siberian Light oil cargoes due to low liquidity.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Sharon Singleton)