Market sources reported that Lukoil - Russia's largest oil company - has increased its crude oil loading for July by about 140,000 tons after Ukraine stopped oil transit from Europe via the Druzhba pipe.

Lukoil will load the Suzemax ship Arus at Novorossiisk, Russia, on July 23-24. The total of Lukoil’s original loading plans for this month is expected to reach 0.34 million tonnes, with top-ups occurring in Russia’s Baltic Sea port.

According to sources in the trading and industrial sector, Lukoil plans to load two Urals of 100,000 tons each at Prim?rsk by mid-July.

Lukoil didn't respond to a comment request.

After Ukraine banned the transit of energy resources via its territory last month, Slovakia and Hungary announced that they would no longer be receiving oil from their main supplier Lukoil.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesperson, said that Russian oil buyers were suffering because of interruptions to their oil transit through Ukraine.

Hungary and Slovakia asked the European Commission on Monday to mediate in a consultation process with Ukraine after Kyiv put Russian group Lukoil onto a list of sanctions, stopping their supplies to both countries.

The overall Russian oil exports from its western ports are expected to fall in July compared to June, due to higher refinery runs as well as Moscow's commitment to OPEC+ production cuts.

Rosneft, a Russian oil producer, and Lukoil, a Lukoil subsidiary in Russia had planned to drastically cut their oil exports out of the Black Sea port Novorossiisk by July. (Reporting and Editing by Timothy Heritage, Emelia Sithole Matarise).