Turkey doubled Rosneft imports

In the first half of May, Turkey doubled its imports of Russian Urals oil compared to the same period in April.

Turkey doubled its imports of Rosneft Urals in the first half of May. This is due to the fact that the energy carrier from the Russian Federation has become significantly cheaper due to sanctions. This is reported by Reuters with reference to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Thus, during May 1-15, about 193,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Russian oil were loaded into Turkish ports. For comparison, in the first half of April this indicator was only 96,000 b/d.

Russian oil exports from Western ports are expected to hit a four-year high this month. At the same time, the price of Rosneft remains lower than the established “price ceiling”, which attracts some buyers. Currently, Turkey remains the only major importer of Russian Urals in the European region.

Although Istanbul has not joined the sanctions against Moscow, its companies are integrated into the international financial system and work with major Western banks. This significantly limits Turkey’s ability to import large volumes of Rosneft.