Oil exports from Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk are set to more than halve in August from July levels after Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted loadings at the Sheskharis oil terminal, according to traders and LSEG shipping data.
Loadings from Novorossiysk are expected to fall below 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) this month from around 800,000 bpd in July, two traders said.
Ukraine has stepped up drone strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, including export ports and pipelines, this year in an effort to curb Moscow's oil-export revenue.
The Sheskharis terminal at Novorossiysk is Russia's main crude export outlet on the Black Sea, handling shipments of Urals and Siberian Light crude. The port also loads Kazakhstan's KEBCO blend for export markets.
According to traders, Russian producers are expected to load around 600,000 tonnes of crude from Novorossiysk in August, with the rest of a total 1.4 million tonnes consisting of Kazakh oil.
Russia has redirected some Kazakh transit crude from the Baltic port of Ust-Luga to Novorossiysk as market participants expect Ukraine to avoid targeting vessels carrying non-Russian oil, traders said. Ukraine has pledged to halt strikes on tankers carrying non-Russian crude from Black Sea ports, the Financial Times reported.
However, drones have previously targeted cargoes linked to Kazakhstan, including CPC Blend exports loaded at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium's terminal at Yuzhnaya Ozereyevka, located near Sheskharis.
Traders say they expect disruption to Russian crude loadings from Novorossiysk to continue into September. "We don't expect the situation to ease next month, so likely we will see more Kazakh barrels in Novorossiysk," one trader said.
Apart from Novorossiysk, Russia exports crude oil from its Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, as well as from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino.
(Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)