Is it a stock for a winter? European traders buy out Russian diesel

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Sputnik radio on the current increase in purchases of Russian oil cargo by the EU countries.

Traders in the European Union are trying to pre-purchase Russian diesel before the entry into force of the embargo on petroleum products, writes Reuters. According to the ship-tracking service Refinitiv, in November the share of Russian diesel in total shipments to the European Union increased to 44 percent compared to 39 percent in October.

Aleksey Gromov expressed the opinion that European traders are trying to buy everything they can as much as possible until restrictions are introduced.

Active purchases of Russian oil products will continue in the coming months, the expert predicts.

“Until December 5, traders will intensively purchase both Russian oil products and Russian oil, and after December 5, most likely, oil purchases will sag, since it will take time to reconfigure supply chains, trade in Russian oil and, most importantly, adapt traders to the new rules. But further purchases of oil products will continue, because the embargo against them will come into force no earlier than February 5," Alexey Gromov concluded.