Alexey Belogoryev, Deputy Principal Director on Energy Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance, explained in an interview with Pravda.Ru, whether Russian oil trade with Asia is beneficial for Russia.
Belogoriev believes that oil exports to Asia will only gain momentum if the European Union decides on an embargo on the supply of Russian oil cargo.
An energy expert called this situation a mutually overflowing vessel.
"Russia has a fairly stable volume of exports of both oil and oil products. Relatively speaking, 5 million barrels of crude oil, about 3 oil products. Accordingly, if their supplies stop to Europe, then they need to be redirected somewhere. Redirected mainly to Asia, since it is the largest market in the world," Belogoryev said.
"Now discounts are on average 30-35% dollars per barrel to a benchmark grade like Brent. This is a lot. This is a huge gap. Russia loses a lot in terms of value. It earns much less than it could by selling oil at such high prices," Belogoriev explained.
Discounts help make oil attractive to Asian consumers.
“In Asia, there are not only rich countries like Japan and Korea, there are many relatively poor countries, but countries that are not ready to overpay for energy, including India. India is very sensitive to energy prices ... These discounts support exports. So far they exist, they will support. Another thing is that this is not very beneficial for our country," the expert noted.
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