Russia's Dark Fuels Flow To Asia After EU Ban

Traders and data show that Russian VGO and fuel oil exports go mostly to Asian countries after the EU embargo. A trader said the flow for refining and bunkering remains pretty stable.

Russian oil embargoed, but China and India still import dirty oil from Russian ports. They've bought up 2.6 million tonnes and 2.1 million tonnes of fuel oil and VGO. They'll process it at their refineries. This data comes from Refinitiv.

Russian fuel oil and VGO were sent to Singapore and Malaysia, which were among the top five destinations, receiving almost 3.5 million tonnes. Turkey and Saudi Arabia received approximately 1.6 million tonnes each, based on Refinitiv data.

Fujairah got almost 1.4 million tonnes of fuel oil and VGO. It's a hub for oil products in UAE. The deliveries took place at the beginning of this year.

The EU banned Russian oil products in February 2023. However, some restrictions were imposed in August 2022, so Russian fuel oil and VGO were already sent elsewhere. To get around the sanctions, Asia and the Middle East and STS loadings became popular options.

Russian oil products are being loaded onto ships near the Greek port of Kalamata. These are "dirty" oil products, and the amount has increased to 8 million tonnes in 2022. From the beginning of 2023 until now, it reached almost 2.7 million tonnes. Most of these cargoes are sent to Asia.

"A trader said they shipped to China, Singapore, and India," they said.

Refinitiv reported that Senegal purchased 114,000 tonnes of Russian fuel oil this month. Africa is a small market for Russia's dirty oil products. Russia's exports of such products to Africa are minimal, and mostly go to Senegal.

Reuters reported on the story. Peter Graff edited the article.