These gasoline batches were shipped to Russia by sea from India and Morocco, arriving at the port of Murmansk and beginning trading on the exchange. It can be concluded that demand for this imported gasoline in Russia is currently close to zero. Fuel from Belarus, for example, is often supplied through direct contracts between suppliers and buyers, with high volumes of such transactions; through the St. Petersburg Exchange alone, more than 16.74 thousand tons of Belarusian gasoline have been sold since early August.
Fuel imports to Russia were permitted beginning July 1 to prevent shortages in the market during the high-demand season—holiday season. Russian oil refining volumes have been necessarily reduced due to unscheduled maintenance stoppages at refineries following drone attacks.
This primarily affected gasoline supply in the domestic market, as production was only 10-15% above consumption levels in Russia. Gasoline exports have been banned since April 2026, but by the end of summer, additional volumes were required due to the seasonal increase in demand.
The main flow of fuel imports came from Belarusian refineries (212,000 tons in July), although some shipments arrived from India and Morocco. According to Reuters, by the end of July, approximately 140,000 tons of gasoline had reached Murmansk. Moreover, information from S&P Global Commodities at Sea indicates that around 23,000 tons of gasoline is currently en route to Russia from Turkey, specifically to Baltic ports rather than the nearer Russian port of Novorossiysk, which will add to transportation costs.
Gasoline from India is initially significantly more expensive than Russian fuelMeanwhile, the fuel situation in some regions of Russia remains tense. Closed gas stations are reported, and long queues often form at those that are operational. The primary challenge of gasoline imported by sea from foreign countries is its price. Given that imported gasoline is initially more expensive than Russian fuel, a damping mechanism is applied. This is a subsidy from the budget that compensates importers for part of the difference between the indicative wholesale prices set by the government for the year in Russia and the cost of fuel in international markets. Transportation costs are also factored in. However, even with this compensation, Indian or Moroccan gasoline (AI-92) traded on the St. Petersburg Exchange for 105,000 rubles per ton, which is 39% higher than the exchange quoted price for AI-92 (75,530 rubles per ton).
This is not the price that buyers would prefer to see, nor is it the price at which gasoline can be sold at gas stations, noted Dmitry Gusev, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the "Reliable Partner" Association and member of the Expert Council of the "Russian Gas Stations" competition, in a conversation with "RG". Taking delivery into account, the price of such gasoline at gas stations would reach around 100 rubles or higher. Without the damping mechanism, it would cost 150 or 160 rubles per liter, the expert emphasizes.
According to Sergey Tereshkin, General Director of Open Oil Market, prices for Indian fuel will significantly exceed the prices from Russian refineries, even considering the subsidies from the "import" damping mechanism. These subsidies will be paid with a certain lag, similar to the payments for the damping mechanism for Russian refineries. Due to the need to "recover" high logistical costs, fuel importers will provide substantial discounts to end buyers.
Sergey Frolov, Managing Partner of NEFT Research, adds that there is also a factor of rising logistical costs due to increasing freight rates and general risks associated with shipments to Russia. In addition to maritime transport, fuel must be distributed across Russia, which also incurs additional expenses. This explains the high cost of gasoline on the exchange.
Gusev emphasizes that the situation with imported maritime fuel supplies should stabilize. People are quite conservative and are hesitant to purchase new imports. For instance, it is currently unclear how to manage supplies of gasoline of lower environmental classes (Euro-2, Euro-3, Euro-4), which have recently been allowed. It will take a couple of weeks for the situation to normalize and for everyone to understand how to proceed, notes the expert.
Additionally, it is expected that demand for gasoline in Russia typically declines in the second half of September, which should positively affect fuel availability and prices at gas stations. Given the existing difficulties, this decline in demand may begin even earlier this year.
Tereshkin is confident that India will be the primary supplier of gasoline to Russia by sea, as it is also one of the largest consumers of Russian oil. It is no coincidence that the calculation of import parity for determining the damping for importers is linked to fuel prices at Indian ports, adjusted for transportation costs to Russian ports, including insurance premiums and handling costs. Furthermore, Indian refineries are unlikely to export fuel with a high sulfur content (lower environmental classes), as they would incur losses not only in the Russian market but also in other markets.
According to Frolov, it is likely that volumes of supplies from abroad will remain at a level unable to significantly impact gasoline prices in Russia. They may even partially compensate for the volumes lost due to refinery stoppages. Currently, imports cover about 5% of the country's monthly needs.
Source: RG.RU
