MOSCOW
\nRussia started fuel exports to Iran by rail this year for the first time after traditional buyers shunned trade with Moscow, according to three industry sources and export data.
\nRussia and Iran, both under Western sanctions, are forging closer ties in order to support their economies and undermine Western sanctions which both Moscow and Tehran cast as unjustified.
\nWestern sanctions on Russian oil products over what Moscow calls its \u201cspecial military operation\u201d in Ukraine have reshaped global fuel markets with tankers taking longer routes and suppliers choosing exotic destinations and ways of transportation.
\nIran has been under Western sanctions for years with limited access to global markets.
\nThe oil ministries of Russia and Iran did not reply to requests for comment.
\nLast autumn, Russia\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced the start of swap supplies of oil products with Iran, but actual shipments only started this year, Reuters sources said.
\nIn February and March, Russia supplied up to 30,000 tonnes of gasoline and diesel to Iran, two sources familiar with the export data told Reuters.
\nA third source confirmed the trade but was not able to confirm the volumes.
\nAll the volumes were supplied by rail from Russia via Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. One of the sources said that some gasoline cargoes were sent on from Iran to neighbouring states, including Iraq, by truck.
\nIran is an oil producer and has its own refineries, but recently its consumption had exceeded domestic fuel production, especially in its northern provinces, a trader in the Central Asian oil products market said.
\nRussia had supplied small volumes of fuel to Iran by tanker via the Caspian Sea, as was the case in 2018, two traders familiar with the matter said.
\nRussian oil companies are currently interested in exporting diesel and gasoline to Iran by rail as exports by sea face high freight rates and a price cap imposed by the G7 countries.
\nHowever the rail exports face bottlenecks along the route, the sources said.
\n\u201cWe expect fuel supplies to Iran to rise this year, but we already see several issues with logistics due to rail congestion. That may keep exports from booming,\u201d one of the sources familiar with supplies to Iran said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MOSCOW Russia started fuel exports to Iran by rail this year for the first time after traditional buyers shunned trade with Moscow, according to three industry sources and export data. Russia and Iran, both under Western sanctions, are forging closer ties in order to support their economies and undermine Western sanctions which both Moscow and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-325311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n