Turkey Has Started To Turn Away From Russian Oil After Trump's Sanctions

Turkish refineries have started buying feedstock from other countries.

In response to Washington's new sanctions against Moscow, Turkish refineries that have been running on Russian oil have started buying crude from other countries, Reuters reported, citing knowledgeable sources.

One of Turkey's largest refineries, SOCAR Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR), owned by Azerbaijan's SOCAR, recently purchased four shipments of oil from Iraq, Kazakhstan and other non-Russian sources for delivery in December. The agency estimates the volume of these shipments to be between 77,000 and 129,000 barrels per day, significantly reducing the share of Russian oil in refining. In September and October, almost all of the STAR refinery's processing volume - about 210,000 barrels per day - came from Russian crude.

Another major Turkish refiner, Tupras, is also increasing its purchases of non-Russian crude, including grades from Iraq similar to Russia's Urals. According to Reuters' sources, the company will soon stop refining Russian crude completely at one of its refineries in order to maintain fuel exports to Europe without violating the sanctions regime. In addition, Tupras has already diversified its supply by buying oil from Brazil for the first time, and is expecting a second shipment of Angolan Mostarda crude in early November.

According to Kpler, Turkey is expected to receive 141,000 barrels of Iraqi oil per day in November, up from 99,000 barrels in October, with an average of about 80,000 barrels per day this year. From January through October, the country imported about 669,000 barrels a day, of which 317,000 barrels, or 47%, came from Russia, compared with 333,000 barrels a day from 580,000 barrels last year.

Turkey is one of the few buyers of Russian oil, along with China and India. The measures taken by Turkish refineries reflect the impact of efforts by the United States, the European Union and Britain to curb sales of Russian crude used to finance the war in Ukraine, Reuters noted.

On October 22, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Rosneft, Lukoil and 34 of their subsidiaries following the Kremlin's refusal to end the war in Ukraine. The US Treasury Department has given a month to complete transactions with the restricted companies.

After the restrictions were imposed, a number of Indian refineries, including Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, HPCL-Mittal Energy and Reliance Industries, suspended purchases of Russian crude. Indian Oil Corp Chief Financial Officer Anuj Jain said the company will continue purchases if they do not violate the sanctions regime.

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