Kazakhstan agrees to supply 50,000 tons of gasoline to Russia, sources say

MOSCOW: Kazakhstan has ‌agreed to supply 50,000 metric tons of gasoline to Russia in July and August as humanitarian aid, four industry sources said on Wednesday.
Russia has been beset by fuel shortages, long queues at the filling stations, surging gasoline and diesel prices in the past weeks as Ukraine attacked Russian energy infrastructure including oil refineries to undermine funding of Moscow’s war efforts.
Other industry ‌sources have earlier ‌said that Russia started gasoline ‌imports ⁠from India. Gasoline ⁠consumption in Russia is at least 110,000 tons per day in summer, when demand for fuel is high.
President Vladimir Putin has said that Ukraine was trying to sow discord among the Russians, while he also acknowledged that the ⁠strikes had triggered fuel shortages in ‌various Russian regions but ‌that Russia was dealing with them.
Sources said that ‌Kazakhstan’s Pavlodar and Kondensat refineries will supply gasoline ‌Ai-95 and Ai-92.
Kazakhstan’s energy ministry, in emailed comments, said it has not received a request from Russia’s state entities about the fuel supplies as humanitarian ‌aid.
At the same time, it has not ruled out supplies from ⁠the Kondensat ⁠plant, which processed naphtha supplied by Russia’s Tatneft oil major.
“The possibility of supplying motor gasoline produced by Kondensat LLP to Russia in the near future will depend on the level of petroleum product availability on Kazakhstan’s domestic market,” it said.
“If such supplies are carried out, the motor gasoline will be produced using feedstock supplied by Russia’s Tatneft,” it added.
Sources also said that supplies and payments could be complicated by the risks of sanctions over Ukraine.