European buyers snapping up most Russian crude since April

­­­Bloomberg

Russia’s crude shipments surged last week, recovering almost all of the previous slump. Seaborne exports to European buyers rose to the highest level since April, as some refiners continue to process barrels, even after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Total flows rise to 3.41 million barrels a day in the period to August 19, vessel-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg show. That compares with 3.24 million previously, using a four-week moving average to smooth out variability in figures.
All of the increase was to Europe, with shipments to customers in the Mediterranean, northern Europe and the Black Sea region all rising. Exports to Mediterranean countries rose by 140,000 barrels a day, the biggest jump. A European Union ban on seaborne imports of Russian crude is due to come into effect in December.
Moscow is also developing new markets for its crude. A third tanker is heading to cash-strapped Sri Lanka, and two vessels have now discharged at El Hamra on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited the country last month. Afghanistan’s Taliban regime is interested in buying around 1 million barrels of crude oil from Russia, according to RIA Novosti.
Based on current destinations, the average flow of Russian crude to Asia continued to slide, to 1.71 million barrels a day in the four weeks to August 19, from more than 2.1 million barrels a day in April and May. While India is maintaining its appetite for Russian oil, its refiners are receiving smaller discounts than they were a few months ago.
Inflows to the Kremlin’s war chest from crude export duty remain higher than they were before the war, with four-week average income rebounding to $175 million, in the period to August 19.
Exports to Mediterranean countries soared to their highest level this year on a four-week average basis.
The volume shipped from Russia to northern Europe in the four weeks to August 19 edged higher, averaging 398,000 barrels a day.
Shipments to storage tanks in Rotterdam dominate the flow.