Research firm LSEG said that Singapore's imports of Russian naphtha reached their highest level in 2024 during the month of May, driven by the recovery of refineries in Moscow after the Ukrainian drone attacks.

During recent days, Ukraine's attacks on Russian oil facilities have subsided, allowing the resumption of operation of some of the affected refineries, such as the "Topsy" refinery, which is one of the largest Russian oil exporting refineries, and the loading rate is expected to increase by 16%.

The capacity of a new unit being operated is estimated at 3 million metric tons annually in the gas condensate complex of Novatek in mid-June.

Some attribute the increase in the amount of Russian naphtha imported to Singapore to the fact that this increase is a natural thing, occurring before the season of high demand for gasoline in the summer.

Research firm LSEG expects Russian naphtha exports to rise by between 550,000 and 600,000 tons per month, from 350,000 tons to 370,000 tons currently.

The FGE official also expects that total Russian naphtha exports to Asia will reach between 1.4 and 1.5 million tons next June.