Turkish companies are reducing their purchases of Russian oil following the imposition of US sanctions against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.
This was reported by two sources directly familiar with the matter and several industry sources, DS reports, citing Reuters.
For example, one of Turkey’s largest oil refineries, owned by the Azerbaijani company SOCAR, recently purchased four cargoes of crude oil from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and other non-Russian producers, with shipments scheduled for December. According to the publication’s analysts, this amounts to between 77,000 and 129,000 barrels per day of non-Russian shipments, depending on the size of the cargo, meaning SOCAR will use less Russian crude oil.
According to Kpler data, Russian oil accounted for almost all of the STAR refinery’s crude consumption in October and September, amounting to approximately 210,000 barrels per day.
One in four cargoes is a shipment of Kazakhstan’s KEBCO, which is similar in quality to Russian Urals crude but originates in Kazakhstan. SOCAR’s STAR refinery has imported only one other cargo of Kazakh crude this year and none in 2024.
On October 22, the US announced sanctions against Russia’s largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. In addition, 36 subsidiaries were also subject to restrictions. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin stated that the new US sanctions do not pose a global threat to the Russian economy.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy predicts that Moscow will lose up to $5 billion monthly as a result of the new US sanctions.
