The gasoline in question is being supplied to Russia by sea from India and Morocco, delivered to the port of Murmansk, where it has begun trading. Currently, demand for this imported gasoline in Russia is close to zero. For instance, fuel from Belarus is often supplied through direct contracts between suppliers and buyers, with high volumes. Since the beginning of August, more than 16.74 thousand tons of Belarusian gasoline have been sold through the St. Petersburg Exchange.
Importing fuel to Russia was permitted starting July 1 to prevent shortages in the market during the high-demand season—summer vacation. The volumes of Russian oil refining have been significantly reduced due to unplanned shutdowns for repairs at oil refineries (refineries) following drone attacks.
This has primarily affected the supply of gasoline on the domestic market, where production was only 10-15% above consumption levels in Russia. Gasoline exports have been banned since April 2026, but due to the seasonal increase in demand, additional volumes were required by the end of summer.
The main flow of fuel imports has come from Belarusian refineries (212 thousand tons in July), with some supplies received from India and Morocco. According to Reuters, by the end of July, about 140 thousand tons of gasoline had arrived in Murmansk. Additionally, as reported by S&P Global Commodities at Sea, approximately 23 thousand tons of gasoline are currently en route to Russia from Turkey. Notably, this gasoline is heading to Baltic ports rather than the nearest Russian port, Novorossiysk, which will increase transportation costs.
Gasoline from India is initially significantly more expensive than Russian gasoline.Meanwhile, the fuel situation in some regions of Russia remains tense. Some gas stations are closed, and there are often long queues at those that are open. The main issue with fuel imported by sea from distant countries is its price. Since imported gasoline is initially more expensive than Russian gasoline, a damping mechanism is applied to such supplies. This mechanism is a subsidy from the budget that compensates importers for part of the difference between indicative wholesale prices (set by the government for the year) in Russia and fuel prices in external markets. Transportation costs are also taken into account. However, even with this compensation, Indian or Moroccan gasoline (AI-92) is currently trading on the St. Petersburg Exchange at a price of 105 thousand rubles per ton, which is 39% higher than the exchange quotes for AI-92 (75,530 rubles per ton).
This is not the price that buyers would like to see and not the price at which gasoline can be sold at gas stations, noted Dmitry Gusev, vice chairman of the Supervisory Board of the "Reliable Partner" Association and member of the Expert Council of the "Gas Stations of Russia" competition, in an interview with "RG". Considering delivery, the price of such gasoline at gas stations could reach 100 rubles or higher. However, without the damping mechanism, it would cost 150 or 160 rubles per liter, the expert points out.
According to Sergey Tereshkin, CEO of Open Oil Market, prices for Indian fuel will significantly exceed the prices of supplies from Russian refineries, even with the subsidies under the "import" damping mechanism. Subsidies will be disbursed with a certain lag, similar to the payments under the damping mechanism for Russian refineries. Due to the need to recover high logistical costs, fuel importers will be offering significant discounts to end customers.
Sergey Frolov, managing partner of NEFT Research, believes that there is also the rising cost of logistics due to increased freight rates and overall supply risks in Russia. In addition to maritime delivery, fuel must be distributed across Russia, which incurs additional costs as well. This explains the high cost of gasoline on the exchange.
Gusev emphasizes that the situation with imported marine fuel supplies should stabilize. People are quite conservative and hesitant to purchase new imports. For example, it is currently unclear how to supply lower environmental class gasoline (Euro-2, Euro-3, Euro-4), which is now permitted. A few weeks may be needed for the situation to stabilize and for everyone to understand how to proceed, the expert believes.
Additionally, it should be noted that demand for gasoline in Russia traditionally drops in the second half of September, which should positively affect fuel availability and prices at gas stations. This year, considering the existing challenges, demand may start to decrease even sooner.
Tereshkin is confident that India will be the main supplier of gasoline to Russia by sea, as it is also one of the largest consumers of Russian oil. It is not coincidental that the calculation of import parity for the damping mechanism for importers is tied to the cost of fuel in Indian ports, factoring in transportation costs to Russian ports, including insurance premiums and transshipment costs. Moreover, Indian refineries are unlikely to export fuel with high sulfur content (lower environmental classes), as they would incur losses not only in the Russian market but also in other markets.
Frolov believes that the volumes of supplies from abroad will likely remain at levels insufficient to affect gasoline quotations in Russia, and to partially compensate for the volumes lost due to refinery shutdowns. Currently, imports cover about 5% of the country's monthly needs.
Source: RG.RU
