After India: Turkey Buys More Non-Russian Oil
Two sources and multiple oil industry sources told Reuters that Turkey's largest refinery is buying more non-Russian oil following the latest Western sanctions on Moscow. This comes after the United States threatened to continue purchasing Russian oil from India and other countries.
Turkey, like China and India, is a major buyer of Russian crude oil. Turkish refining companies are taking similar measures to their Indian counterparts, indicating that the efforts by the United States, EU, and UK to cut off Russian oil sales used to fund the war in Ukraine are beginning to take effect.
According to sources, one of Turkey's largest refineries, the STAR Aegean Refinery owned by the Azerbaijani state oil company (SOCAR), has purchased four batches of crude oil from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and other non-Russian producers, which are expected to arrive in December.
According to Reuters' calculations, based on the volume of cargo, this is equivalent to 77,000 to 129,000 barrels per day of non-Russian supply, meaning that the STAR refinery will use less Russian crude oil.
No previous reports have mentioned an increase in non-Russian crude oil purchases by Turkish refining companies due to the latest sanctions.
Two sources said that Tüpraş, which owns two of Turkey's main refineries, is likely to gradually reduce the import of Russian crude oil at one of its refineries so that it can continue exporting fuel to Europe without violating EU sanctions.
They added that the company will continue processing Russian crude oil at another refinery.
SOCAR declined to comment. Tüpraş did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.
According to data from Kepler, Turkey imported about 669,000 barrels per day of crude oil from January to October, of which 317,000 barrels per day were from Russia, or 47%.
In comparison, crude oil imports during the same period last year were 580,000 barrels per day, of which 333,000 barrels per day were from Russia.
Observers believe there are strong indications that both India and Turkey have started to reduce their purchases of Russian crude oil. In Turkey, there have been reports that the country's main refineries have begun to buy more non-Russian oil in response to Western sanctions.
In India, sources said that some state-owned refineries have temporarily stopped purchasing Russian crude oil after the US threatened to impose high tariffs.
India has ruled out the possibility of completely stopping the import of Russian crude oil for commercial and economic reasons, as this could increase fuel costs by billions of dollars.
All of this is due to the pressure placed on countries purchasing Russian oil by the sanctions imposed by the United States, EU, and UK on Russia.
Sources: Al Jazeera + Reuters
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1847727686800396/
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