2024-08-04 17:06:11
The Russian Ministry of Energy will reinstate the ban on gasoline exports in September and October, reported RIA Novosti. The reason is the sharp jump in prices on the domestic market due to increased demand and unscheduled repairs of oil refineries damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks.
Russian authorities have already suspended exports from March 1 to August 31, but after pressure from oil companies, whose revenues have fallen, decided to temporarily suspend the decision from May 20 to July 31.
Gasoline prices at Russian gas stations have risen to record highs over the past year. According to analysts, the cost of motor fuel has been rising for the fifth week in a row at a record pace. In the first week of July, a liter of gasoline rose in price by 0.61% compared to the end of June, from July 8 to 15 – by 0.53%, and from July 16 to 22 – by 0.55%. This is the biggest jump in gasoline in 10 years.
The main reason for the rise in prices is the war in Ukraine. Daily strikes by Ukrainian drones on Russian oil refineries disabled part of the facilities for a month or two, and because of the sanctions, oil companies cannot import equipment for repairs. According to Reuters data, because of the attacks, Russian refiners have reduced gasoline processing in 2024 by 4%. The fact that the Russian authorities classified the statistics on the production of oil products in the country at the end of the spring of 2024 speaks eloquently about the damage. Previously, Rosstat published this data every week. Now the latest public data is from May 19. After that date, gasoline price information disappeared from the weekly summaries, and only price monitoring remained. Also classified are data on oil and gas production and exports, which also fell because of the war.
According to analysts, there is also a political moment – before the presidential elections and the inauguration of Vladimir Putin in the spring of 2024, prices were artificially frozen and now companies are making up for losses.