Serbia's Russian-controlled refiner NIS faced challenges selling oil products to some of its customers in the first quarter due to US sanctions, the company said today. Runs at its 96,000 b/d Pancevo refinery rose despite these difficulties, albeit from a relatively low level a year earlier.
The US announced sanctions against NIS in January because of its Russian ownership, but implementation has been postponed several times, most recently until 27 June. Even so, the threat of sanctions led NIS to reduce output at Pancevo as many customers suspended purchases, a source told Argus last month.
NIS reported a 4pc year-on-year decline in oil product sales to 719,000t in January-March. Domestic wholesale and retail sales volumes fell by 16pc and 7pc to 246,000t and 203,000t, respectively. Foreign retail market sales decreased by 9pc to 34,000t, and overall motor fuel sales dropped by 8pc to 544,000t.
Sales volumes fell partly because some customers terminated their contracts with NIS due to the US sanctions, the company said. Bunkering sales dropped by 25pc on the year because of difficulties in doing business with foreign clients as a result of the US restrictions, it added, without giving details.
The negative effects were partially offset by a 75pc year-on-year increase in bitumen and coke turnover and a 3pc rise in jet fuel sales, NIS said, without giving volumes. Sales "through the export channel" were up by 73pc from a year earlier.
NIS said it was operating in an "unstable" environment in January-March because of its "exposure to the US sanctions regime". Despite this, Pancevo increased runs of crude and semi-finished products by a third to 853,000t combined in the first quarter, although throughput was relatively low a year earlier due to a scheduled turnaround.
The company said it is continuously adjusting Pancevo's slate of imported crude, based on spot market movements and procurement opportunities. NIS announced a tender to supply 2.15mn t of crude for Pancevo in April-December 2025 but cancelled the call earlier this year.
