An award-winning, independent monthly magazine about the global lubricants industry, Lubes’n’Greases, published Legion Oil & Gas LLC’ comment on the recent disruption of Russian base oil exports by COVID-19. Please read the full article here: https://pubs.lubesngreases.com/lubereport-emea/virus-disrupts-russian-base-oil-exports/
According to Legion Oil & Gas LLC’ managing director Denis Varaksin, the flow of products moving out of Russia and other neighboring countries has slowed. The reason is the lack of personnel at loading and reloading stations as well as delayed customs clearances. Customs officials in Russia and Ukraine sometimes refuse to accept the documents from long-haul drivers because of the possibility of the virus spread.
At the same time, Varaksin says, “prices of container freight and truck freight are going up”.
Russia exports big volumes of oil products to different markets such as Western Europe, the United Kingdom, Turkey and Africa. The lubricants industry in Russia, one of the world’s largest base oil producing nations, is likely to be facing challenges due to the expected ruble devaluation and the COVID-19 spread.
OPEC proposed Russia to cooperatively reduce crude oil production, but the Russian government rejected this proposal. Afterwards the Saudis flooded the market with cheap crude, contributing to a fall-off in prices.
Oleg Tsvetkov, chief specialist at the Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis of the Russian Academy of Science, compared the situation to what happened in the late 1990s when the president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez convinced the Saudis to sell crude oil for fixed prices. Back then it helped fight poverty in Venezuela and Russia, but now the authorities seem to be doing the opposite.
DYM Resources is a base oils trader with headquarters in Berlin, Germany. The company is offering a wide range of base oils, including Group I, II and III as well as finished lubricants and additives. Legion Oil & Gas LLC exports base oils and waxes from Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Europe and other locations in flexi-containers, iso-tank, trucks, rail tank cars and bulk vessels.