Reuters: LUKOIL organized offshore transshipment of Urals oil near Kaliningrad

LUKOIL transshipped a shipment of Urals oil under the ship-to-ship (STS) scheme in Russian territorial waters near Kaliningrad. This was reported by sources of the Reuters agency and showed data from the Eikon ship tracking system. Against the backdrop of sanctions, Russia is actively using the STS transshipment in the Mediterranean for oil supplies to Asia, Reuters notes.

LUKOIL’s Urals oil shipment of 100,000 tons was loaded onto the Andaman Skies tanker, chartered by LUKOIL’s trader Litasco, in the Baltic Primorsk on February 11. The ship proceeded to Russian territorial waters, where the cargo was transferred to the tanker Ruby Phoenix, sources told Reuters.

“The side-to-side transshipment in Kaliningrad was done to save on freight, as the rates for ice-class vessels are higher,” an oil industry source told Reuters.

In December, the EU introduced a cap on Russian oil prices at $60 per barrel. In February, restrictions on oil products from Russia by the European Union, the G7 and Australia came into force. The price was agreed at $100 and $45 per barrel for products that are traded at a premium and a discount to oil, respectively.

On average, according to Bloomberg, after the introduction of restrictions in December, a barrel of Russian oil cost about $74, which is a quarter higher than the established threshold. According to the Ministry of Finance, the average price of a barrel of Urals in February was $49.56, slightly higher than in January ($49.48).

Read more in the publication “Kommersant” “Detours”.

Maria Fedotova