Three diesel-laden long-range (LR) tankers that departed from the Russian Baltic port of Primorsk set sail for New York Harbor in May and July, as higher supply in northwest Europe opened short-term opportunities to send product further afield.

A tanker partly loaded in Primorsk with ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) is in transit and could reach New York Harbor in mid-August, Vortexa data show. If it proceeds there, it would follow a Primorsk-loaded arrival earlier this month, and at the end of May.

US-bound flows rise

The latest departure is aboard STI Exceed, which is currently signalling its destination as New York, after co-loading at Latvia’s Ventspils Nafta Terminal (VNT) in July.  

Vitol – who owns VNT via a subsidiary firm – booked the STI Exceed to load around 60,000t of clean product from the Baltic region on 28 July for delivery to Europe, provisional shipping fixtures showed.

This voyage was preceded by Neptun D, which arrived this month, and Torm Sofia, which arrived at the end of May- both loaded from Primorsk, and the first such exports to PADD 1 observed since 2016.

Imports from Baltics, US, Asia rise

Gasoil supply in the northwest European region has been bolstered by higher inflows from the Baltic, US and Asia-Pacific regions in recent weeks, likely opening the transatlantic arbitrage for Primorsk-loaded shipments.

Observed ULSD exports from Primorsk in July were seen at their highest levels since January, while exports in the first seven months of this year were estimated at 340,000 b/d, around 10pc higher year-on-year.

Imports of gasoil into northwest Europe from the US Gulf coast (PADD 3) were at multi-month highs in July, on the back of buoyant refinery utilisation rates.

And intake from India was also higher compared with previous months, boosted by the discharge of the new-build VLCC DHT Stallion’s diesel cargo.