Russian seaborne Crude exports have surged to multi-year highs, but a growing share appears unsold and stored afloat. Despite this jump, the IEA notes that Russia’s overall Oil exports fell sharply in November as refinery disruptions curbed refined product output, Commerzbank's commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.

Tanker-storage builds as unsold Russian Crude heads to sea

"Russian seaborne Oil exports rose to 4.24 million barrels per day last week, the highest level since early 2022, when Bloomberg began publishing data on this. Within two weeks, shipments have increased by around 1 million barrels per day. The less volatile 4-week average also turned upward, reaching 3.68 million barrels per day, the highest level since the end of October."

"However, a significant portion of the shipments are likely to be en route without a buyer, leading to an increase in inventories held in tankers. According to the IEA, these have risen by 213 million barrels since the end of August, which corresponds to an increase of just over 2 million barrels per day. The IEA reports declining Russian Oil exports."

"In November, these fell to less than 7 million barrels per day for the first time since the beginning of 2022. Crude Oil exports, including pipeline deliveries, fell to 4.7 million barrels per day, while exports of Oil products fell to 2.1 million barrels per day, presumably because the numerous Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries in Russia resulted in fewer Oil products being produced and exported."