Russia exported 4.822 million bpd of crude oil by sea in May, down from a record 5.21 million bpd in the previous month, energy data provider Kpler has said, adding that this is the first monthly decline in Russia’s crude oil exports this year—another tentative gleam of hope for oil bulls, after the Energy Information Administration yesterday reported a 2.5-million-barrel decline in crude oil inventories. What’s more, Kpler says, this month should see another draw in Russian exports. The data provider sees them, based on loadings until now, at between 4.2 million and 4.4 million barrels daily. This, the company notes, is the lowest since August 2016. Further falls are also likely: preliminary loadings data seen by Reuters suggests that loadings from Russian ports on the Baltic Sea are set for a decline in the first 12 days of July. The decline is seen at 300,000 tons of crude, […]