First-quarter crude exports scheduled at record high

摘要

Pipeline crude exports from Russia to non-CIS destinations, including transit, are scheduled at a post-Soviet record high of 4.57mn b/d (56.5mn t) in January-March, up by 1.7pc against fourth-quarter shipments. Exports by Russian firms are due to rise by 60,000 b/d to 4.13mn b/d in firstquarter 2017. Some market participants had expected a bigger hike, because the base crude export duty will fall. But this has been offset to some extent by a planned increase in supplies to Belarus. Some traders link the lower-than-expected schedule to Russia’s pledge to cut crude production in the first half of next year, as part of the recent deal between non-Opec and Opec producers.