The Wall Street Journal reported that tanker owners in Europe are shipping as much Russian oil as possible before an embargo is imposed next December.
According to the newspaper, due to the sharp increase in fuel supplies from Russia to Asian countries, European tankers also rushed to load tankers with Russian oil, before the ban on oil purchases from Russia was introduced.
She said that Greek tankers, which control almost a third of the world’s fleet, shipped about half of the usual volumes of Russian oil in May and June 2022, and, according to the insurance company Lloyd’s List Intelligence, in these two months Greek ships made 151 voyages to the Russian ports of Chernoye. and the Baltic Seas compared to 89 flights in the same period last year.
Increased demand for oil since the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine has seen freight rates for medium tankers rise to around $40,000 per day, up from $10,000 in January 2022.
Large European tanker owners have said sanctions could force them to temporarily halt roughly a third of their fleet, but high global demand for fuel will sooner or later force those vessels back to sea.
After Russia began its operation in Ukraine, the West stepped up sanctions pressure on Moscow, and some countries announced the freezing of Russian assets, as well as brands from Russia.
The European Union has imposed six packages of sanctions, including a ban on Russian coal and oil, but reality has shown that this is a problem for the West itself, as it has led to a sharp increase in inflation and food and gasoline prices.
Source: RIA Novosti