Türkiye slashes Russian oil imports amid new Western sanctions
Photo: Türkiye sharply reduces imports of Russian oil (Getty Images)
The largest oil refineries in Türkiye have begun purchasing more non-Russian oil following the latest sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom targeting Russia’s energy sector, according to Reuters.
Türkiye, one of the main buyers of Russian crude oil along with China and India, is now seeking to diversify its supplies to avoid the risks associated with trading raw materials that finance Russia’s war against Ukraine.
According to the agency, one of the country’s largest refineries, SOCAR Türkiye Aegean Refinery (STAR) — owned by the Azerbaijani company SOCAR — recently purchased four cargoes of crude oil from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and other producers.
Reuters estimates that these purchases account for between 77,000 and 129,000 barrels per day of non-Russian supplies. This means SOCAR will reduce the share of Russian oil in its operations. In contrast, from September to October, the refinery almost entirely relied on Russian Urals crude, at around 210,000 barrels per day.
One of the new cargoes is Kazakh KEBCO oil, which is similar in quality to Urals but is not subject to sanctions. Until now, SOCAR had imported only one shipment of this grade in a year.
Another major Turkish refinery, Tupras, is also increasing its purchases of non-Russian crude, including Iraqi oil. According to sources, the company is considering completely abandoning Russian oil imports at one of its plants to maintain the ability to export fuel to the EU without violating sanctions.
This year, Tupras has already expanded its supply geography, purchasing its first batch of oil from Brazil and expecting another from Angola.
According to data from the analytical company Kpler, Türkiye plans to receive around 141,000 barrels per day of Iraqi oil in November — significantly more than in October (99,000 barrels) and above the yearly average (80,000 barrels).
Between January and October, Türkiye imported around 669,000 barrels of crude oil per day, of which 47% came from Russia.
For comparison, last year this figure was 580,000 barrels per day, with the share of Russian oil even higher — 333,000 barrels per day.
Sanctions against Russia
As a reminder, on October 22, the United States introduced new sanctions against Russia.
The restrictions targeted two of Russia’s largest oil companies — Rosneft and Lukoil — as well as their subsidiaries operating within the Russian Federation.
Civil and criminal penalties were established for both US citizens and foreign nationals who violate these sanctions.
Notably, on October 31, Lithuanian Railways announced that it would suspend the transit of Russian oil due to sanctions imposed by the US and the UK.
