Russia Primorsk to start Suezmax tankers in January

Russia's largest oil port, Baltic Sea Primorsk, will begin loading its first Suezmax tankers in January, a move that allows it to boost shipments of Urals crude, a port schedule showed on Monday.

Primorsk will load a total of four cargoes with 135,000 tonnes of crude each, up from its regular 100,000 tonnes -- a deadweight usually called Aframax.

Traders said the newly built ice-class tankers were commissioned by the shipping firm Sovcomflot.

"They can in fact carry up to 200,000 tonnes, but the volume is limited by the Danish straits," said a trading source. "But if they go to Finland and there is no need to pass through the straits, they can carry up to 160,000 tonnes."

The four January loadings of Suezmax will include three cargoes by oil producer Rosneft (ROSN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) on Jan. 9, 21 and 28.

"These cargoes are likely to be marketed by (trading house) Gunvor," one trader said.

One cargo on Jan. 18 will be crude from mid-sized producer Bashneft and oil major Lukoil (LKOH.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) and will be marketed by Lukoil's trading arm Litasco, traders said.

Primorsk is scheduled to load 6.6 million tonnes of crude in January, up from 6.435 million tonnes in December.

Source:RamblerNews