Ghost tankers: the West refuses Russian oil

The price of oil is breaking records, but Russia, paradoxically, almost does not receive any benefit from this - they are afraid to buy its oil!

Analyst Semyon Kogan in his channel analyzes the situation, calling it very serious: “Despite the fact that companies from the energy sector (oil and gas) have not yet come under sanctions, everything is not so cloudless. Yes, energy prices are making new highs daily. It seemed to us that they would not stop buying oil from the Russian Federation under any circumstances. But is it so in the moment?

And here it’s not even about sanctions, but about the fact that consumers either refuse to buy or transport Russian oil at all. Or, for example, that they are trying to sell Russian Urals oil at a discount to international benchmarks.

That is, in the terminal we see one price, but in reality, sales are at a lower cost. Example: the other day, a major global trader, Trafigura, was selling Urals at the highest discount in history – around $19 per barrel.”

Moreover, information appears in the media (albeit not yet confirmed) that tankers refuse to transport Russian oil - despite record discounts, no one wants to take it".

Kogan's words are confirmed by the Czech newspaper Seznam Zpravy, which reports that despite the rise in oil prices and, accordingly, gasoline, Russian oil tankers wander the seas, because no one wants to buy oil from them. Surgutneftegaz failed to find buyers for nine tankers with 6.5 million barrels of oil. Several tankers full of barrels of oil roam the sea, waiting to see what happens next.

“Buyers fear a possible conflict with Western sanctions and don't want to take risks while their lawyers try to navigate the new rules”, - Amrita Sen of Energy Aspects, a consulting firm, told the BBC.

It turns out that although Western anti-Russian sanctions against Russian oil have not yet been introduced, there are no buyers for 70% of Russian oil.

Experts note that this situation has been developing since Wednesday last week, when Russia announced the start of a special operation in Ukraine. Buyers are afraid of possible problems with sanctions and do not want to take risks.

And not in vain, because according to RIA Novosti, the US administration is considering a ban on oil imports from the Russian Federation. This was reported by Western agencies with reference to the representative of the White House.