FX.co ★ Russia should expect billions in losses – Bloomberg

According to the largest news agency, Bloomberg, Russia's oil and gas sector will suffer the biggest revenue losses due to the fact that since 2020 it will be impossible to use sulfurous residual oil as marine fuel.

At the moment, oil refineries around the world are introducing new operating rules that comply with the standards of the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO). This agency prohibits the use of fuel oil with a sulfur content above 0.5 percent as marine fuel.

However, Russian refineries, which process oil with a high sulfur content, cannot fully prepare for changes. There are only two options: the modernization of production and the search for additional buyers. This is the case for plants run by Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz. Experts believe that enterprises are unlikely to be upgraded until 2020.

If oil producers cannot find additional buyers within the country, the refineries should expect large-scale losses. In this situation, high-sulfur fuel oil will be sold at a big discount, and the revenue of major oil companies will fall by several billion dollars. According to WoodCo., this figure could reach $ 3.5 billion by 2020.

According to Bloomberg, in 2018 Russia did not produce fuel oil that meets the new IMO standards. If the situation does not change, then even several options for selling fuel will not help the Russian refinery. In this case, nothing compensates for the losses from demand reduction, analysts emphasize.