Primorsk set for August boost.(Exports and trade)

Russia's Baltic port of Primorsk is due to load 907,000 b/d (3.85mn t) of crude in August, or 75,000 b/d more than in July, according to preliminary port schedules. The increase is in line with pipeline operator Transneft's plans to raise the capacity of the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS) feeding the port to 1mn b/d by the end of the year.

August loadings at Primorsk look set to exceed those at Novorossiysk--previously the biggest Russian export outlet for crude--for the first time. And shipments along the BPS are expected to rise again in September. "The pipeline is almost ready to handle 50mn t/yr [1mn b/d]. A decision on the increase is likely to follow soon," says …