US imports of Russian fuel oil reached near record-highs in the first six months of this year, an industry data showed. US buyers have increased imports of Russian fuel oil since Washington stopped purchasing heavy Venezuelan barrels about a year ago. Many US refineries were designed to process heavy crude grades from South America. They cannot process light oil that the US produces domestically.
Hence, imports of Russian fuel oil doubled from 2018 to 11 million tons in 2019. During the first half of 2020, the US imported 5.3 million tons of Russian fuel oil, on track to meet last year’s record-high volumes. Fuel oil is also cheaper than Russia’s flagship Urals blend, which prices increased following OPEC+ supply curbs.
Russian fuel oil cargoes to the US were mostly shipped from the port of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea, tanker tracking data showed. These shipments arrive mainly in the US Gulf of Mexico area, including Houston and Galveston in Texas which have nearly 50 refining facilities.
