Russia’s key Baltic port resumes crude loading after attacks
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Smoke rising from Russia's Baltic port of Ust-Luga after a Ukrainian attack in Ust-Luga, Leningrad Oblast, on March 27, in a near-infrared satellite image.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW – Russia’s key Baltic port of Ust-Luga resumed crude loading after days of disruptions amid multiple Ukrainian drone attacks in the region.
The Jewel, an Aframax-class vessel, began cargo loading on April 4, according to shipping information seen by Bloomberg News.
Loadings at Ust-Luga, a key oil-export outlet in Russia’s west, had stopped at the end of March as Ukraine stepped up attacks on energy infrastructure along the Baltic coast.
Russia’s oil-pipeline operator Transneft did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
Ukraine continues its attacks on Russia’s Baltic oil infrastructure, with facilities damaged in the port of Primorsk earlier on April 5.
Ukraine’s moves are aimed at curbing Russian export revenue at a time when global energy prices have rallied because of the war in the Middle East.
Still, if Russia resumes stable crude flows from Ust-Luga, it could bring some relief to global markets rattled by Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. BLOOMBERG
