Suriyapong Thongsawang
Shipments of Russian crude to Europe soared last week to their level since April, Bloomberg data shows.
Flows hit 3.41 million barrels per day for the tracking period ending August 19.
Meanwhile, Asian countries are continuing to dial back Russia-sourced oil.
Russian seaborne crude exports to Europe reached their highest level since April last week, according to tracking data from Bloomberg.
Europe imported 3.41 million barrels per day for the week ending Aug. 19, the data shows, which covers a four-week moving average for flows. Europe imported 3.24 million bpd during the previous tracking period.
The majority of the customers last week were in the Black Sea, Mediterranean and northern regions of Europe.
Russian flows are still a mainstay in Europe, despite the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. The increase in imports comes as the European Union’s partial embargo on Russian crude will go into effect in early December.
Meanwhile, Asia’s appetite for Russian crude has steadily declined in recent weeks, and previously hit their lowest level since March. During the same four week period, Russian crude headed for Asia fell to 1.71 million bpd compared to 2.1 million bpd in April and May.
India has recently been more keen on crude from Saudi Arabia, and dropped its imports of Russian crude by 7.3% in July. Still, India and China are the top importers of Russian-sourced crude.
Russian oil exports provide the Kremlin with an important stream of cash as Western sanctions block its access to global financial markets. Russia took in $138 million in weekly revenue, up 26% compared to the previous tracking period, Bloomberg data showed.