MOSCOW, January 19 – RIA Novosti. Fatih Birol, Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said that oil supply from Russia has become more stable, contrary to last year’s forecasts. Reuters.

The article says that the IEA previously greatly exaggerated the impact of Western sanctions on Russian oil exports, and that the market could lose up to three million barrels per day. Still, Birol is confident that supply will continue to decline in the first quarter of this year, although raw materials will be purchased from Asia, particularly India and China.

Commenting on the ceiling price for Russian petroleum products that will come into effect on February 5, Birol noted that he is worried about the supply of diesel. He hoped that this initiative of the Western countries would not cause problems and tensions in the commodity markets.

Earlier in its November report, the IEA said that the EU’s embargo on imports of Russian oil and petroleum products could put pressure on global oil balances. In particular, it concerned the complexity of the situation in the already tense diesel market.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak on Monday said that by the end of 2022, Russia’s oil exports abroad have increased by 7 percent. On Thursday, he noted that next year’s deliveries are still at December.

On December 5, Western oil sanctions went into effect: the European Union stopped accepting Russian oil transported by sea, and the G7 countries, Australia and the EU set a price cap of $60 per barrel for sea freight – the more expensive ban to transport and insure the oil.

In response, Russia has banned the supply of oil to foreign persons from February 1 of this year if the contracts directly or indirectly provide for the use of the marginal price fixing mechanism.