Will Europe stop buying oil products from Russian crude oil

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy studies at the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the Forbes business publication on the entry into force of the EU ban on the purchase of petroleum products made from Russian raw materials.

India and Turkey, the main exporters of Russian oil products, accounted for 15%, or 13.3 million tons, of imports of diesel and gas oil to the EU in 2025, Alexey Gromov said.

Now, he continues, India and Turkey are adapting to the new restrictions, with the most likely option being the purchase of Russian oil through terminals unrelated to the export of petroleum products to the EU.

Since EU buyers must prove that the petroleum products they purchased are not made from Russian oil, the following regulation was introduced: European countries are ready to import petroleum products from terminals that have not accepted Russian oil for 60 days, since it is assumed that it is unprofitable to store crude oil for so long.

However, Gromov notes, the port infrastructure of the largest oil refining regions of India (Vadinar and Jamnagar) and Turkey (Aliaga and Izmir) allows for the implementation of an option in which oil will be purchased and accumulated in some terminals, and petroleum products will be exported from others. In the short term, oil can be stored in VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) tankers capable of carrying about 2 million barrels of oil, the vessels will be used as floating oil storage facilities, the expert adds.