Russia’s offline primary oil refining capacity is expected to decline significantly in January to 1.188 million metric tons, from 2.098 million tons in December, industry sources said and Reuters calculations showed on Wednesday.

According to Reuters calculations, idle primary oil refining capacity is seen falling for the whole 2024 by more than 30% to a cumulative 18.463 million tons from initial plans for 2023.

The final figures on offline refining capacity are typically higher than the preliminary plans.

The decline in offline refining capacity usually leads to a decrease in available crude oil volumes, discouraging crude oil exports.

This would likely help Russia to stick to its pledge to boost cuts in oil and oil product exports to 500,000 barrels per day in the first quarter.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin, Editing by Mark Potter)