Off the coast of North Africa, ships with significant amounts of Russian diesel fuel are being used as floating storage as buyers avoid the sanctions product. And a remarkably warm winter is driving demand down, Bloomberg writes, citing Kpler data..

There are now 1.9 million barrels of Russian diesel fuel in floating storage, the largest volume since October 2020. This increase in surplus three weeks after the entry into force of EU sanctions indicates that some cargo is leaving Russian ports without buyers. A record number of Russian diesel cargoes left without a destination last week.

Sanctions fuel shortage fears have prompted European refiners to increase production to prepare for a warmer winter. At the same time, suppliers imported significant amounts of fuel ahead of the EU ban on imports from Russia.. Thus, the stocks of diesel fuel in the transport hub Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp rose to the highest level in two years.

Previously, European buyers worried that they would not be able to find alternative fuel supplies, and therefore expected additional costs in industries dependent on diesel fuel, in particular, in agriculture and trucking..

[see_also ids\u003d"

Russia's continued build-up of diesel floating unsold at sea could eventually affect the rate of refining and production of crude oil, the proceeds of which are now funding the second year of Russia's war in Ukraine, the newspaper writes..

Since February 5, the European Union has joined the UK and the US in banning seaborne imports of Russian diesel fuel and other petroleum products..

In January, Russian Urals oil was sold almost half cheaper than Brent oil. The price of the Russian Urals was $49. 48, which is the lowest since December 2020 and at -42. 2% cheaper than a year ago.