- More Russian oil is being shipped to China and India than ever before (BBG)
- Nearly 79 MMBbls of Russian oil were in transit and floating storage over the past week, which is more than double the 27 MMBbls in transit and floating storage immediately before the February invasion of Ukraine, according to Kpler
- Asia surpassed Europe as the largest buyer for the first time last month, and the gap is expected to widen in May
- The EU is considering delaying a pipeline ban to give Hungary more time and keep the Russian crude embargo deal alive
- Oil shipments over the Druzhba pipeline may be exempt for a limited time
- Last year, Russia exported around 720 MBbls/d of crude to European refineries via the Druzhba pipeline, compared to 1.57 MMBbls/d by sea
- However, the majority of pipeline deliveries are going to Germany and Poland, who have said they will wean themselves off Russian supplies regardless of EU action
- The Biden administration is reaching out to the oil industry to inquire about the possibility of reopening shutdown refineries, as the White House tries to address the nation's record-high fuel prices
- The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline hit a new high of $4.60/gal on Wednesday, just as the summer driving season is about to start
- U.S.’s oil refining capacity has been reduced by more than 1 MMBbls/d, or around 5% of total capacity, since the beginning of the pandemic