Russian oil exports fell sharply, with daily shipments falling by 700,000 barrels over the course of a week, Bloomberg reports.
In the week ending November 8, Russia exported an average of 3.37 million barrels of oil per day, the lowest level in three weeks. A total of 23.6 million barrels were loaded onto tankers, down from 28.53 million the previous week.
One contributing factor was the suspension of shipments at the Pacific port of Cosmino. Satellite images showed that both of its embankments remained empty for three consecutive days, apparently due to maintenance work.
Shipments through Russian ports in the Baltic and Black seas also decreased. On November 2, a Ukrainian drone hit an oil pumping station in Samara, a critical hub linked to export routes to Ust-Luga and Novorossiysk. However, Bloomberg did not confirm a direct link between the attack and the drop in shipments.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has renewed its intense attacks on Russian refineries. Since the beginning of November, six facilities with a combined capacity of 1.7 million barrels per day have been designed.
As a result, the four-week average crude value of Russia's seaborne oil exports fell to a six-week low of $2.48 billion.