Putin closes data on Russian refinery operations and oil exports

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree significantly limiting the publication of information about the operation of oil refineries, energy resource exports and supplies of petroleum products. New restrictions went into effect on September 28.

Reuters reports this. The document refers to Decree No. 686, which approved a new list of restricted access information in the Russian fuel and energy sector.

The restrictions include data on refining volumes and production output by Russian refineries. Thus, publicly tracking actual load and output of individual refineries will become more difficult.

Russian authorities are also restricting a significant amount of information on energy resource exports. The restrictions apply to details about the names and quantities of exported goods, their values, sellers, buyers and other parties to transactions.

Additionally, access will be limited to data on payments under export contracts, vessels and containers used for transportation, destinations and transportation routes. The list includes information about sea terminals, warehouses, infrastructure operators, and dates and times of individual cargo operations.

The publication of aggregated customs statistics on exports by Russian companies is separately restricted.

Information on planned sales volumes of individual petroleum products and volumes of fuel sales transactions on exchange trading will also be closed. In particular, this applies to the gasoline and diesel fuel market.

According to the decree, dissemination of listed information through media and internet is prohibited. An exception is made for data that a company itself chooses to disclose about its own activities.

The Russian government must determine within ten days the specific list of goods subject to the new restrictions.

The Kremlin explained the decision by the need for retaliatory measures against sanctions from the United States and other Western countries. Reuters notes that restricting access to the data also complicates monitoring compliance with sanctions restrictions on Russian energy exports.

Russia has gradually closed energy statistics in the past. Specifically, authorities restricted publication of data on oil production and some foreign trade after the tightening of Western sanctions.

The new measures extend restrictions directly to refinery operations, export chains and the petroleum products exchange market.

Based on: Reuters, ConsultantPlus.