Greek shipowners stop transporting Russian oil
Three major Greek shipping companies have stopped transporting Russian crude in recent weeks due to the increased risk of facing US sanctions, Reuters reported.
Greek shippers Minerva Marine, TMS Tankers and Thenamaris have stopped carrying Russian oil to customers in the Middle East, Asia, Turkey, Africa and South America, although traders reported that Moscow still has a sufficient supply of shipping services for its own oil.
The three companies have been among the most active transporters of Russian oil and fuel, but have recently scaled back their involvement. The three companies operate more than 100 tankers with enough capacity to handle nearly all of Russia's oil exports from European ports, about 10 million tons a month, or 2.4 million barrels a day.
“The “dark” fleet may not be enough to transport all Russian oil,” a Russian oil trader told Reuters. The “dark fleet” refers to the emergence of shippers that move oil from Russia and Iran, but are not covered by Western insurance and therefore escape observation by official authorities.
Last year, Washington imposed sanctions on owners of tankers in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates carrying Russian oil after they bought above the G7-set maximum price of $60 a barrel. Last week it imposed further sanctions on three ships.
Greece has emerged as a new hub for Russian oil through ship-to-ship (STS) cargoes after the United States and Europe imposed heavy sanctions on Russian crude. At the peak of trade, Russian crude and fuel oil shipments reached a level of multiplication compared to pre-sanctions volumes. However, Greek shippers began reducing volumes of Russian crude after the price of the Urals surpassed the $60 per barrel ceiling for the first time in July.
According to Argus Media, Greek oil operators reduced Russian crude volumes by 482,000 bbl in July, with Russian crude falling to 35% of all cargoes from 45% in previous months. With Russian crude now more expensive, Chinese buyers have increasingly turned to other markets, which further disincentivizes Greek traders from remaining in Russian trading due to the complications of complying with sanctions.
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The article Greek shipowners stop transporting Russian oil comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-armatori-greci-smettono-di-trasportare-petrolio-russo/ on Fri, 24 Nov 2023 06:15:49 +0000.