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Russia Imports 30,000 Tons of Moroccan AI-92 Gasoline Amid Severe Domestic Shortages

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Cyril Barabaltchouk
News Writer
A view of cargo vessel Frontier Sky and other cargo ships off the coast of Morocco in the Strait of Gibraltar. Illustrative image. (Source: Getty Images)
A view of cargo vessel Frontier Sky and other cargo ships off the coast of Morocco in the Strait of Gibraltar. Illustrative image. (Source: Getty Images)

Russia has imported a seaborne cargo of approximately 30,000 metric tons of AI-92 gasoline from Morocco, Reuters reported on July 31, citing two industry sources.

This was done to bolster its domestic market after repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on refineries triggered internal supply shortages.

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A Panama-flagged tanker loaded the fuel at Morocco’s port of Tangier in mid-July and is currently discharging the shipment at Russia’s Arctic port of Murmansk. Russian energy giant Lukoil acted as the supplier for the transaction, the sources told Reuters.

Smoke rises from an oil refinery facility following a reported Ukrainian attack in the town of Noginsk outside Moscow, Russia on July 18, 2026. (Source: Getty Images)
Smoke rises from an oil refinery facility following a reported Ukrainian attack in the town of Noginsk outside Moscow, Russia on July 18, 2026. (Source: Getty Images)

Subsequent trading data from the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) showed that AI-92 gasoline is now being offered for rail distribution from the Kola station, which directly serves the Murmansk port terminal.

The unusual seaborne import is indicative of the growing strain on Russia’s energy infrastructure caused by Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign against domestic oil refineries. To contain escalating retail prices and prevent regional fuel deficits, Moscow has introduced a series of emergency market controls, including a ban on fuel exports alongside increased overland rail imports of gasoline from neighboring Belarus and Kazakhstan, Reuters detailed.

The shipment aligns with earlier official statements acknowledging potential energy shortfalls. In mid-July, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated that Moscow would begin sourcing foreign oil products to balance the domestic market amid unplanned refinery outages and rising seasonal demand.

The seaborne imports follow a strategic shift by Ukrainian military planners, who have recalibrated their long-range drone campaign to target critical, hard-to-replace industrial components rather than broad refinery infrastructure in an effort to maximize operational outages and deepen fuel shortages across Russia.

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