Europe Continues To Be A Major Buyer Of Russian Oil Even With Sanctions

A Moscow University oil tanker at Kozmino port © Yuri Maltsev © Reuters  

Bloomberg: Russian Oil Flows to Europe Have Quietly Started Creeping Up 

(Bloomberg) -- Europe’s resolve to stop buying Russian crude may be starting to ebb. The continent’s oil refineries took 1.84 million barrels a day of crude from Russia last week, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. That was the the third consecutive weekly increase and took flows from Russia to Europe, including Turkey, to their highest in almost two months.Partly it was about Litasco SA, the trading unit of Russia’s largest oil producer, taking barrels to the company’s refineries, and partly it was about Turkey purchasing more. Beyond that, though, steady ongoing declines appear to have slowed.The developments suggest those companies and countries who were unwilling to buy Russian have already stepped back, leaving the market to others who are happier to do so. Russian oil plunged to huge discounts after the country’s invasion of Ukraine as some companies stopped buying.China and India are still the largest buyers of Russian crude, the weekly tracking data show.  

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WNU editor: There are concerns that Russian oil will be going to Europe via through India .... Concerns grow that India is ‘back door’ into Europe for Russian oil (The Guardian).  

Update: This is not going to happen .... G7 leaders discuss price cap on Russian oil over Ukraine invasion (Al Jazeera). Russia will never sell oil to Europe under these conditions, and when it comes down to it, Western governments will not impose these measures. 

Everyone knows that the impact and consequences of such a measure will result in global oil markets and Western consumers being rocked with record price increases that will in the end cripple the global economy .... Oil prices could slump to $75 a barrel in a recession — or jump to $150 if European sanctions slam Russian supplies, BofA says (Insider).