Russia intensifies its deliveries of petroleum products to Indonesia, while Moscow seeks to expand its export markets following the Western sanctions imposed following its invasion of Ukraine, market sources and LSEG data said on Thursday.
Since the entry into force in February 2023 of a total embargo of the European Union on imports of Russian petroleum products, Russia has reoriented its fuel exports to Asia, Africa and South America.
Indonesia traditionally imports most of its petroleum products from Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
According to maritime data, around 500,000 tonnes of fuel oil were exported from the Russian port of Oss-Louga, on the Baltic Sea, to Indonesia between January and March.
Two cargoes of around 50,000 tonnes of naphta have also been shipped to Indonesia from the Russian port of Arkhangelsk, in the Arctic, this year, according to sources and LSEG data.
By way of comparison, Indonesia imported around 58,200 tonnes of naphta and 100,000 tonnes of Russia fuel oil for the entire year 2024.
In addition, in March, a ship called Savitri delivered a cargo of 33,000 tonnes of diesel from the Russian port of Tuapse, on the Black Sea, at the Indonesian port of Karimun. And another oil tanker, the Lunar Tide, could deliver nearly 60,000 tonnes of Tuapse diesel to Karimun this month, according to sea data.
Buyers of these cargoes are unknown.
Karimun is generally used as a storage center for the Southeast Asia region, some traders storing their diesel cargoes there before mixing them to deliver them to other regional destinations, according to commercial sources.
Most of these cargoes cannot be sold in Indonesia due to regulatory requirements, added one of the sources.
To date, 105,000 tonnes of diesel have been exported from Karimun this year, for countries such as Eastern Timor, Myanmar and Singapore, according to the monitoring of ships provided by KPLER. (Reuters report in Moscow, Yap Trixie in Singapore; edited by Joe Bavier)
