Russia’s crude flows rebounded in the seven days to May 5, with additional vessels leaving the major ports of Kozmino on the Pacific coast and Murmansk on the Arctic. The four-week average also rose. Buoyed by last week’s increase, crude shipments for the year so far are running ahead of the average for 2023, with domestic oil processing still under pressure as refineries that have barely recovered from Ukrainian drone strikes enter seasonal maintenance. Attacks on processing plants continue, and Russia plans to reduce daily diesel shipments from its key western ports in May to the lowest since at least 2021. That’s ... (full story)