Russia Ministry of Energy: Nikolay Shulginov: “The internal market is fully provided with fuel”

Gasoline production is at a high level, the domestic market is fully provided with fuel, Nikolai Shulginov said. The Ministry of Energy of Russia, together with the FAS Russia, continues to constantly monitor the situation on the domestic motor fuel market to maintain the fuel supply of the regions at a stable level, taking into account the need for scheduled repair work at factories, as well as in the event of emergency situations.

The current macroeconomic conditions for the production of petroleum products are favorable. Gasoline production remains at a high level – since the beginning of August, an average of 61.2 thousand tons of AI-92, 44.6 thousand tons of AI-95 have been produced per day, which generally corresponds to the level of 2019-2020.

“The production of petroleum products at the refineries is sufficient to fully meet the current demand for fuel, taking into account the shift in the repair schedule at the Ryazan Petrochemical Complex, the reorientation of some the amount of motor fuel sales on the exchange ”, – explained the head of the Russian Ministry of Energy.

To stabilize the market situation, the regulators represented by the Ministry of Energy of Russia and the FAS Russia hold weekly operational meetings with large companies producing oil products, within which the companies confirm the priority of meeting domestic demand for fuel and their readiness to provide additional volumes to the market.

“In addition, oil companies have begun to implement the recommendations of the headquarters of the Ministry of Energy of Russia on the use of reserves of gasoline and diesel fuel from tank farms for shipment to the domestic market, since the current level of fuel reserves is at a sufficiently high level for this season,” the Minister added.

The total volume of sales of petroleum products on the exchange continues to be at levels higher than the same period in 2019 by about 20%. Since the beginning of August, on average, 21.6 thousand tons of AI-92 gasoline (+ 5% to the level of 2019) and 13.8 thousand tons of AI-95 gasoline (+ 40% to the level of 2019), which is on average about 27% of the production of motor gasoline and is almost 2.5 times higher than the minimum standard for exchange sales (11%). Diesel fuel sales on the exchange account for about 18% of the production volume and are also almost 2.5 times higher than the minimum standard (7.5%).

From the beginning of September, it is expected to resume the production of motor fuels at the Surgut ZSK for motor gasoline for 90 thousand tons and for diesel fuel for 56 thousand tons, which will create an additional volume of supply on the market by the beginning of the season for the return of the population after mass vacations.

“In order to analyze the factors affecting the change in wholesale prices for petroleum products, as well as strategies that could lead to a violation of antimonopoly legislation, including an increase in prices for petroleum products, the service requested from oil companies a register of concluded contracts for the supply and purchase of petroleum products in order to identify volumes acquired by third parties for the benefit of these oil companies and their affiliates. The FAS also conducted unscheduled inspections of oil traders and requested similar information from them. If violations of the antimonopoly legislation are revealed, according to the analysis of the information received, response measures will be taken, ”said the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Maxim Shaskolsky.

The Ministry of Energy of Russia, together with the FAS Russia, continue to keep the situation under special control and, taking into account the indicated factors, they see no reason for the rush demand on the exchange. In addition, it is reported that a detailed study is underway of individual exchange-based resale transactions on the basis of refineries of motor fuel at inflated prices by traders who do not have their own production on the relevant basis, with the aim of canceling these transactions and suppressing such practices in the future.