Oil loadings from Russia’s western ports in June will fall by 6% on a daily basis from May, undermined by Russia’s voluntary oil production cuts and higher domestic refinery runs, market sources said and Reuters calculations showed.

Russia’s flagship Urals grade and Kazakhstan’s KEBCO loadings from the Baltic Sea ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga in June were set at 6.5 million tonnes, down from 7.5 million tonnes in the May schedule, the sources said.

The Black Sea port of Novorossiisk will load 2.9 million tonnes of Urals, KEBCO and Siberian Light, compared to 2.8 million tonnes in May. June is one day shorter than May.

Last week Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Russia has achieved its planned oil output cuts of 500,000 barrels per day in May.

Idle refining capacity at Russia’s domestic oil plants and in Belarus in June may fall by some 1.1 million tonnes from May, while higher seasonal demand will spark refinery utilisation to prevent domestic fuel shortages and price hikes, market sources said and Reuters estimations showed.

Russia is considering restricting its exports of gasoline and will propose such a measure if needed, energy minister Nikolai Shulginov said on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters, edited by Kirsten Donovan