MOSCOW, Dec 22 Reuters Russia plans to cut oil exports from its sea ports in January by 100,000200,000 barrels per day bpd from December levels amid increased throughput at its refineries, three industry sources familiar with export plans told Reuters.

The export schedule for the first quarter of 2024 is lower than for OctoberDecember, one of the sources said.

The quarterly export schedule is a threemonth export plan for Russian oil companies issued ahead of a new quarter allowing them to plan supplies via pipeline monopoly39;s Transneft system.

We estimate Russia39;s average seaborne oil exports at 3.5 million bpd so far in December, in January we expect it to fall due to increased refining, said Viktor Katona, senior oil market analyst at Kpler consulting.

Russia39;s offline primary oil refining capacity for December has almost tripled from previous plans to 2.098 million metric tons as some refineries reviewed their maintenance plans.

The average throughput at oil refineries in Russia was at 5.5 million bpd in October and last week it increased to 5.7 million bpd, Katona added.

The three sources expect oil loadings to decline mainly in Russia39;s western ports Primorsk, UstLuga and Novorossiisk, where the supply swap with refineries is technically easy.

The December exports from these ports may be higher than planned 1.9 million bpd due to rollover of some cargoes from November, when the Black Sea shipments had been disrupted by a storm.

Russia has…