So far, however, Russia still seems to be finding buyers for its Oil, Commerzbank's commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.

Oil production in Kazakhstan impaired

"According to the aforementioned data from Bloomberg, Russia's seaborne crude Oil exports remained at a high level of 3.7 million barrels per day in the last reporting week. The less volatile 4-week average even rose to 3.82 million barrels per day, the highest level since May 2023."

"One factor likely playing a role here is that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian Oil refineries mean that less crude Oil can currently be processed in Russia, leaving larger quantities available for export. The drone attacks on Russian energy infrastructure have also meant that Oil production in Kazakhstan has had to be reduced in recent days."

"However, the production loss is expected to be minor and last only a few days. Kazakhstan already produces significantly more crude Oil than stipulated in the OPEC+ agreement, so the losses are unlikely to have a significant impact."