Turkey starts refusing Russian oil after Trump’s sanctions
3 November 05:17
In response to Washington’s new sanctions against Moscow, Turkish refineries that used to run on Russian oil have begun purchasing raw materials from other countries, Reuters reports, citing knowledgeable sources, "Komersant Ukrainian".
One of Turkey’s largest refineries, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), owned by Azerbaijan’s SOCAR, recently purchased four batches of oil from Iraq, Kazakhstan and other non-Russian sources for delivery in December. According to the agency’s calculations, the volume of these shipments ranges from 77,000 to 129,000 barrels per day, which significantly reduces the share of Russian oil in refining. In September and October, Russian oil accounted for almost all of STAR’s refining output – about 210,000 barrels per day.
Another major Turkish refiner, Tupras, is also increasing its purchases of non-Russian crude, including grades from Iraq similar to Russian Urals. According to Reuters sources, the company will soon completely stop processing Russian oil at one of its refineries in order to maintain fuel exports to Europe without violating the sanctions regime. In addition, Tupras has already diversified its supplies by purchasing oil from Brazil for the first time, and in early November it expects a second shipment of Angolan Mostarda crude oil.
According to Kpler, in November, Turkey is to receive 141,000 barrels of Iraqi oil per day, up from 99,000 barrels in October, with an average of about 80,000 barrels per day this year. From January to October, the country imported about 669,000 barrels per day, of which 317,000 barrels, or 47%, came from Russia, while last year, out of 580,000 barrels per day, Russia accounted for 333,000 barrels.
Turkey, along with China and India, is one of the few buyers of Russian oil. The measures taken by Turkish refineries reflect the impact of efforts by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom to limit sales of Russian raw materials used to finance the war in Ukraine, Reuters notes.
on October 22, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Rosneft, Lukoil and 34 of their subsidiaries after the Kremlin refused to end the war in Ukraine. The U.S. Treasury Department gave a month to complete transactions with the companies subject to the restrictions.
After the restrictions were imposed, a number of Indian refineries, including Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, HPCL-Mittal Energy, and Reliance Industries, suspended purchases of Russian oil. Indian Oil Corp’s CFO Anuj Jain said that the company would continue purchases if they do not violate the sanctions regime.
