RoydadNaft –  Russia’s crude oil exports by sea fell in the four weeks to November 24 compared to the previous four-week average by the steepest volume since July, amid lower shipments to India, tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg showed on Tuesday.

Russia is estimated to have shipped from its oil export terminals an average of 3.12 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil during the four weeks to November 24, down by 150,000 bpd compared to the previous four-week average to November 17, according to the data reported by Bloomberg’s Julian Lee.

Most of the decline in shipments over the past month was seen at Russia’s Western ports on the Baltic and Black Sea, from where the majority of shipments to India depart.

Bloomberg’s estimates point to at least a 500,000-bpd decline in Russian crude shipments to India over the past weeks compared to the four weeks to the middle of October.

Still, there are a lot of cargoes traveling without a final destination, which are most likely to end up in India.

The Russian exports are now at around a two-month low and come as the OPEC+ group, including Russia, will meet on Sunday to discuss production levels and supply to the market.

Separately, Russia could soon lift its gasoline export ban earlier than planned, which could boost refinery rates at domestic refiners and leave lower volumes of crude for exports.

Russia’s government plans to lift the gasoline export ban earlier than current plans at the end of the year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Friday.

“It is difficult to say whether the export restrictions will be lifted on December 1 or [from another date],” Novak said, as quoted by Russian news agency TASS.

Earlier this month, Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilyov said that Russia’s energy ministry believes it could be possible to lift the gasoline export ban, considering that domestic fuel prices are stable.