Russia bans gasoline exports for 6 months

Russia on Tuesday imposed a six-month ban on gasoline exports from March 1 to maintain price stability in light of growing consumer and farmer demand, as well as to allow for the maintenance of refineries in the world’s second-largest oil exporter.

The Russian Business Council was the first to announce the ban, which was confirmed by a spokesman for Alexander Novak, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, who is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assistant for the energy sector in Russia.

The Russian Business Council quoted an unidentified source as saying that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin agreed to the ban proposed by Novak in a letter dated February 21.

The council quoted Novak as saying in the proposal, “In order to offset the excess demand for petroleum products, it is necessary to take measures that help stabilize prices in the local market.”

Russia’s exports of oil and petroleum products occupy the largest share of Russian exports and are also a major source of foreign currency revenues for the Russian economy, whose size is estimated at about 1.9 trillion dollars.

Russia is already voluntarily reducing its oil and fuel exports by about 500,000 barrels per day in the first quarter of the year as part of OPEC+ efforts to boost prices.

Last year, Russia produced 43.9 million tons of gasoline and exported about 5.76 million tons, or an estimated 13% of its production. African countries are the largest importers of Russian gasoline, including Nigeria, Libya and Tunisia.