Implementation of sanctions against Russia is becoming more and more difficult, the price ceiling for Russian oil is practically not observed anymore, but there are still oil products that are even more difficult to track.
The U.S. Department of Defense, which purchased oil products from the Greek refining company Motor Oil Hellas, did not know that its ships and aircraft at European bases were being fueled with Russian fuel. Officially, Motor Oil Hellas, which has contracts with the Pentagon, stopped buying oil and petroleum products from Russia after the US imposed an embargo in March 2022.
However, The Washington Post found out that oil products continued to flow to the Greek company's refinery on the Aegean coast. It's just that now they changed owners along the route and passed through the Turkish Dortyol terminal, mixing in the storage facility with fuel from other countries.
Thus, in at least five cases this year, Rosneft fuel oil was purchased by Fossil Trading FZC from the UAE after being loaded onto a tanker in the Black Sea. The ownership was then transferred to a Turkish state-owned company, and the cargo was delivered to Dortyol.
WaPo gathered shipping data and information on trade agreements, and industry experts who have studied them and have a deep understanding of the routes used to deliver oil and oil products confirmed that Russian product accounted for a large share of the mixtures received by Motor Oil Hellas.
Under the terms of the embargo, the use of Russian oil is only possible if it leaves Russia and is then deeply processed and turned into another fuel. Then the new product is labeled as produced in the country where the refining took place, experts say.
However, according to them, Dortyol is not involved in such processing, and the terminal owners confirmed that they are "not directly connected with either the processor or the manufacturer."
"The sanctions are very clear in this regard," explained Alan Gelder, vice president of oil, refining and petrochemicals at Wood Mackenzie. – "The oil needs to be refined and changed a lot. In this case, it is not being done."
Over the past two years, Dortyol has received 5.4 million barrels of fuel oil by sea, 3.5 million of which came from Russia, according to data from ship registries analyzed by WaPo and trade information from Refinitiv.
Since March 2022, when the United States imposed the embargo, the Pentagon has signed new contracts with Motor Oil Hellas for more than $1 billion. It is impossible to determine the exact amount of Russian fuel oil in the petroleum products purchased by the Pentagon, WaPo points out.
Not only the U.S. Department of Defense received fuel from Russian ingredients. Since February of this year, Motor Oil Hellas has shipped more than 1 million barrels of jet fuel to governments and companies in Italy, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Background. As a reminder, the European Parliament has recognized that the price ceiling on Russian oil is ineffective.