European traders are rushing to fill tanks with Russian oil for diesel production before the embargo takes effect. This was reported by Reuters.
"The European Union will introduce a ban on the import of Russian oil products, on which the production of diesel fuel largely depends, by February 5. This will follow the ban on Russian oil, which comes into effect in December," the report says.
Loadings of Russian diesel destined for the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) storage region rose to 215,000 bpd between November 1 and 12, up 126% from October, market analysts said.
In November, diesel fuel from the Russian Federation accounted for 44% of the total import of automotive fuel to Europe. In October, this figure was 39%.
It is noted that Europe's dependence on Russian fuel fell by more than 50% after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nevertheless, Russia still remains the largest supplier of diesel fuel to the continent.
"The EU should provide about 500-600 thousand barrels per day of diesel fuel to replace Russian volumes. The replacement will come from the US, as well as east of Suez, primarily from the Middle East and India," analysts report.