The volumes of transportation of Russian Urals oil decreased by 85% in August, compared to the indicators in the first quarter of the year.

Exports of Russia’s Urals crude fell about 85% in August, compared with shipments in the first quarter of 2023. This was reported by Vortexa analysts.

According to Vortexa, transportation of Rosneft in August averaged 60,000 barrels per day. This indicator is 10,000 barrels per day higher than in July, but 375,000 barrels per day lower than the average in the first quarter.

Vortexa analyst Armen Azizyan said that one of the reasons for the drop in Russian exports is that the main buyers of the Urals — China and India — “are now known to the market, so there is no need for an intermediary to help the Kremlin hide the final destination of Russian raw materials.

At least 40 intermediaries, including companies not previously involved in the business, handled about half of Russia’s total exports of crude oil and petroleum products from March to June 2023, according to Reuters estimates. yes, since March 22, Rosneft has been transported by 143 “shadow” tankers that previously exported raw materials from Iran and Venezuela.