Uzbekistan is reducing oil imports from Kazakhstan in favor of cheaper Russian oil, according to a report by the specialized, energy-focused Telegram channel, Oil & Gas of Kazakhstan. According to this source, in the first quarter of 2024, companies in Uzbekistan imported 15,200 tons of crude oil from Kazakhstan by rail for processing. In January-March of 2023, imports amounted to 25,600 tons. The main volume of raw materials this year went to the Ferghana refinery.
At the same time, Russia’s Gazprom-Neft shipped 75,000 tons of oil through the pipeline in transit through Kazakhstan in the first quarter of 2024. This is almost seven times more than a year earlier, when this figure was just 10,700 tons.
By the end of 2024, Russia plans a full-year supply volume to Uzbekistan of up to 550,000 tons of oil, against a total of 154,300 tons a year earlier, which will be supplied through Kazakh state oil-pipeline operator, KazTransOil’s trunk pipelines. The reason for the growth of supplies is a more attractive price, which is in part pushed down by both the G7’s price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian oil exports, and India’s disinclination to pay for Russian oil in rubles – which is driving down Russian exports. If oil from Kazakhstan is supplied to Uzbekistan at a discount of $8-9 per barrel relative to the North Sea Dated Brent oil contract, then the size of the discount on Russian crude is reaching $11-12 per barrel.
