Russian media reports say Russia has temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries except members of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which include Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
According to RBK, the Russian government said in a statement that temporary restrictions will help saturate the fuel market, which in turn will reduce prices for consumers.
The energy ministry reportedly said the measure would prevent unauthorized “grey” exports of motor fuels.
The ban is indefinite and further actions will depend on the saturation of the market, according to Russian First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin.
“We expect that the market will feel the effect quickly enough. But then it will depend on the saturation of the market and the results,” Sorokin said.
Russia in recent months has suffered shortages of gasoline and diesel. Wholesale fuel prices have spiked, although retail prices are capped to try to curb them in line with official inflation.
Traders reportedly say the fuel market has been hit by factors including maintenance at oil refineries, bottlenecks on railways and the weakness of the ruble, which incentivizes fuel exports.
Reuters reports that Russia has already cut its seaborne diesel and gasoil exports by nearly 30% to about 1.7 million metric tons in the first 20 days of September compared to the same period in August.
Russia reportedly exported 4.817 million tons of gasoline and almost 35 million tons of diesel last year.
According to CNN, it recently announced plans to curb exports of crude oil by 300,000 barrels per day through the end of the year as part of an initiative led by Saudi Arabia to tighten global supplies and boost prices.
