Russian seaborne oil product exports fell by almost 10% in 2024 after Ukrainian drone attacks damaged major refineries and as higher funding costs and a government gasoline export ban added to pressure from Western sanctions, industry sources said.

Russia, one of the world’s largest oil and fuel exporters alongside Saudi Arabia and the U.S., has been trying to access new markets in Asia and South America since the West imposed sanctions over Moscow’s military move on Ukraine in 2022, according to Reuters.

Lower fuel exports mean Russia’s oil firms have to boost exports of crude to maintain revenues, but such options are limited to just India, China and Turkey, which still buy Russian crude despite sanctions and have their own big refineries.

Total Russian exports of all fuels including fuel oil, diesel, naphtha and jet kerosene stood at 113.7 million metric tons last year, down 9.1% from 2023, two market sources told Reuters, citing export data.

The 2024 export figure would amount to approximately 2.3 million barrels per day if the crude oil conversion ratio of ton to barrel is used. The exact breakdown of products – all of which use a different conversion ratio – was not known.

Russia’s overall oil processing fell to around 267 million metric tons (5.4 million bpd) in 2024, its lowest level since 2012, due to unplanned outages and weaker refining margins, Reuters calculations based on data from market sources showed.