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Hunter Freya is a type of VLCC tanker. Photo/group of hunters
According to the FT on Saturday (3/12/2022), “Moscow has been quietly assembling a fleet of more than 100 old tankers.”
Quoting energy consultancy Rystad, the FT reported that Russia has taken control of 103 tankers since the beginning of the year, either by repurposing vessels previously involved in transporting oil cargo to and from Iran or Venezuela or by buying tankers outright.
The European Union (EU) and the G7 finally agreed on Friday to limit the price of Russian marine crude to $60 a barrel.
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The decision came after weeks of wrangling between countries that found the proposed cap ‘too generous’, such as Poland and the Baltic states, and several maritime nations, including Greece, who wanted a cap set at around $70 a barrel. .
Western companies will be barred from insuring or financing ships carrying Russian crude unless it sells for less than $60 a barrel under the new rules, which Moscow has made clear it will not accept.
VTB Bank head Andrey Kostin said in October that Russia would need to spend “at least 1 trillion rubles ($16.2 billion)” on “expansion of the tanker fleet”.
Western analysts have interpreted this statement to mean that Moscow is investing in very large tankers (VLCCs, which can hold up to 2 million barrels of crude oil each), Suezmax tankers (which carry up to 1 million barrels each), and Aframax tankers ( holding up to 700,000 barrels each).
According to the FT, international observers have commented that Russia will likely use its “shadow fleet” of aging oil tankers to sell growing volumes of energy to countries such as India, China and Turkey that are not subject to EU or US sanctions and other trade restrictions.
On Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had no intention of recognizing Western-imposed price limits on Russian oil exports by sea.
He added that the government is currently reviewing the situation.
(she)
