Russian Flagship Oil Cargo Transfers at Sea Grind to a Halt

The transfer of Russia’s flagship Urals oil at sea — a key part of the nation’s petroleum supply chain since the war in Ukraine — has all but ground to a halt.

There has been just one so-called ship-to-ship transfer of the nation’s top export grade so far in July — a tiny switch of about 140،000 barrels — according to tanker-tracking data observed by Bloomberg. There were 14 last month.

Officials from two shipping firms، both of which have transported some Russian oil in the past year، said a mix of regulatory scrutiny، less-expensive freight، and the fact that Russia doesn’t need to keep ice-strengthened ships near its western ports during summer were likely contributors to the decrease.

There was a similar pause in September last year before the activity picked up again over winter. The practice came to a full stop at Ceuta، a Spanish exclave off the coast of Morocco، in April.

Back in May، the European Union banned ships from its ports if they are involved in illegal ship-to-ship transfers. Not all ship-to-ship transfers، including of Russian oil، break EU rules، especially if the cargo cost less than $60 a barrel — a level that Urals has recently exceeded.