Russia considers lifting gasoline exports ban

Russia is considering lifting its gasoline exports ban, officials and sources said on Tuesday, as oil refineries return from maintenance and fuel stockpiles rise.

Russia imposed a partial gasoline exports ban for six months from March 1 to pre-empt fuel shortages and stem a rise in prices following a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries and technical outages.

Fuel exports have continued to a Moscow-led economic union and to some countries with which Russia has direct intergovernment agreements on fuel supplies, such as Mongolia.

Russia in 2023 produced 43.9-million tonnes of gasoline and exported about 5.76-million tonnes, or about 13% of production. The biggest importers of Russian gasoline are mainly African countries, including Nigeria, Libya and Tunisia, and also the United Arab Emirates.

“The energy ministry is now proposing to consider the issue of allowing the export of gasoline for a certain period,” acting Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told Interfax news agency.

He also said the issue would be considered by the government soon.

Novak is not in a permanent role as the new government has not been formally announced following the inauguration of Vladimir Putin for his sixth term as Russian President.

“So far, the measures that were taken on March 1 to ban the exports have worked in full. The market is saturated and even oversaturated,” Novak said.

Industry sources also say that Russia's domestic gasoline inventories are full and that some refineries have had to cut primary oil processing in order not to overproduce fuel.