Turkey’s largest refinery resumes purchases of Russian Urals oil

Turkey’s largest oil refiner Tupras has resumed purchases of Russian Urals crude

This was reported by Reuters reported, citing three sources and shipping data.

Turkey’s largest refinery Tupras has resumed purchases of Russian Urals crude after halting earlier this year due to tightening US sanctions on Moscow.

The three sources said Tupras resumed purchases after Urals prices fell to their lowest level since 2023 earlier this month, well below the $60 per barrel price ceiling set by the G7 countries.

The price ceiling, imposed by the Group of Seven countries, the European Union and Australia, prohibits the use of Western maritime services such as insurance, flagging and transportation when tankers carry Russian oil that costs $60 or more per barrel. Since October, the US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on several tankers suspected of violating the price cap.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Tupras has become one of the largest importers of Russian oil, accounting for 65% of the country’s total oil imports in January-November 2024, according to data from Turkey’s energy regulator.

The company stopped buying Russian oil in February amid growing concerns about US sanctions following a sweeping package of restrictions announced on January 10.

Tupras will receive at least two shipments of Urals, with loadings in April, trade sources familiar with the situation said.

One of the shipments is already at sea, tracking data shows. The tanker Nissos Christiana loaded about 730,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga on April 3, according to Kpler. The delivery is scheduled for April 21 in Izmit, where Tupras operates a 225,800-barrel-per-day refinery.

Tupras is Turkey’s largest oil refiner with two plants in Izmit and Izmir, which have a combined refining capacity of 467,300 barrels per day.

When the company stopped buying Russian crude, it turned to alternative grades, including buying oil from Brazil for the first time last month.

Other sources of Tupras’ oil imports in March and April included Guyana, Nigeria, Libya and Norway, according to Kpler.