Russian Urals oil transfers via STS (ship-to-ship) facilities near European states rose 7% in February from January on a daily basis, according to traders, Refinitiv Eikon data and Reuters calculations on Monday.

Some 1.66 million tonnes of Russian Urals oil were transferred via STS facilities compared with 1.71 million tonnes in January. February is three days shorter than January this year.

Main volumes of Urals were transferred via STS facilities near Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa, and Greece’s Kalamata, a city in the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece, the data showed.

Deliveries of Urals from Kalamata rose in February to 1.23 million tonnes from 0.65 million tonnes in January – by 109% on a daily basis, and from Ceuta fell to just 0.19 million tonnes from 1.06 million tonnes – down 80% from January, Reuters calculations showed.

In February, 140,000 tonnes of Urals were also transferred via STS near the Moroccan Mediterranean city of Al Hoceima and 100,000 tonnes in the Baltic near Russia’s Kaliningrad.

India and China remain the main destinations for deliveries of Urals oil using STS: loading oil on larger vessels allows exporters to save on transport, as well as “transfer” to non-ice tankers for journeys to Asia as loading in Russia’s Baltic ports is now carried out on ice-class tankers.

The growth in STS transfers in February has not yet continued in March, data from traders and the Refinitiv Eikon system showed.

Preliminary data for March 1-10 does not yet show shipments of Urals oil from Russian ports to any STS facilities.

During February 1-10 Urals oil shipments to STS facilities amounted to about 0.7 million tonnes.

Market participants believe that demand for STS operations may be slightly off in March due to some drop in freight prices, as well as the expected easing of ice restrictions in the Baltic ports.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Richard Chang)