Vitol declined to comment beyond confirmation of the accuracy of an article published by Bloomberg, which reported the news earlier.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have all announced bans on Russian oil.
Large companies such as Shell, TotalEnergies and Neste have also stopped buying Russian crude or said they will do so by the end of 2022 and a wider de facto embargo has prevailed as banks, traders, shippers and insurance companies try to avoid it. the fall of fouls of western financial sanctions.
As Russian oil has become toxic to many buyers, Urals crude oil is trading at an increasing discount on the world market. It’s now worth $ 34 a barrel less than crude Brent.
The International Energy Agency estimated on Wednesday that Russian oil supplies would fall by 1.5 million barrels a day in April and could fall to as much as 3 million a day from May as buyers resent it.
“While some buyers, mainly in Asia, have increased their barrel purchases of Russian barrels, traditional customers are declining,” the agency said. “At the moment, there are no signs of an increase in sales volume to China.”
Vitol’s revenue nearly doubled to $ 279 billion last year as global demand for oil recovered after economies opened up from pandemic lockdowns. The company traded 7.6 million barrels of crude and other petroleum products a day last year, according to its website.
This is more than Russia’s daily crude oil exports, which the IEA estimated at about 4.7 million barrels in 2021. Of that, about 2.4 million barrels a day went to Europe.
However, there are indications that the European Union could be on the verge of losing Russian oil. Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was considering the oil embargo as part of a new round of sanctions.
The cumulative impact of this expanding embargo could be higher oil prices worldwide as buyers try to replace supplies. Russia is the world’s second-largest exporter of crude oil, after Saudi Arabia, accounting for 14% of global supply last year, according to the IEA.
The price of Brent crude oil, the world benchmark, soared in early March and briefly exceeded $ 139 a barrel – a 14-year high – but has since fallen again to around $ 107. Coordinated release of 240 million barrels by the United States and the ILO Member States could help ease prices and offset the loss of Russian crude supplies.
– Chris Liakos contributed to this article.
