Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that thanks to government measures, Russia's fuel market is 'partially stabilizing.' In an interview with the state television program 'Vesti,' he said the effect came from a ban on exports of petroleum products, saturating the market through imports, increasing production volumes, and postponing maintenance at refineries.
'We see that these measures are yielding results and the market is already partially stabilizing; in many regions restrictions are being lifted, and this is visible from the number of operating gas stations and the reduction in queues,' Novak said.
According to him, in some regions 'a tense situation persists today' — companies are discussing how to 'manually, in a targeted manner' fill these regions with petroleum products.
As Kommersant reports, Russian refineries are gradually returning to selling fuel on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange. This concerns plants with a combined processing capacity of about 40 million tons per year. Large enterprises processing more than 45 million tons are not yet participating in trading.
According to data from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), from July 7 to July 13, prices for motor gasoline at filling stations rose by 2.3% compared to the previous week, and for diesel fuel by 3.2%.
Analysts interviewed by Kommersant warned that a quick market recovery should not be expected. A noticeable increase in production will only become possible closer to the end of the year.
A number of large refineries have recently halted or reduced processing due to drone attacks, which have become more frequent, Reuters notes. The plants do not have time to fully recover.