European Union and sanctions: Russians transfer oil to Ghana while seeking new buyers

(Patria) - A tanker with Russian oil is heading towards storage facilities in Ghana, a country that exports oil itself, Bloomberg reported.

The developments suggest that traders may be searching the market for new buyers of Russian oil after the European Union halted almost all maritime imports from the country in December. The bloc's measures have made Moscow largely reliant on Chinese and Indian orders.

The tanker "Theseus" arrived in Ghana's territorial waters on Friday, carrying about 600,000 barrels of Russian oil from a Black Sea port, according to tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. Its cargo was supposed to be pumped into storage tanks in Tema, sources said. The last signal from the vessel was on Sunday evening, by which time unloading had not yet begun. Russia is under pressure to maintain its oil revenues after the G7 and the European Union imposed sanctions.

Almost all companies from the European Union are prohibited from buying Russian crude and oil derivatives, or from providing important services such as insurance to countries that buy such exports above a price cap. In December, Russian oil revenues fell by almost 20 percent compared to the previous month, after the price cap caused large discounts on oil in the country, according to the International Energy Agency.

Will Ghana block Russian oil?

The oil will be stored in tanks at the Tema Oil Refinery, sources say. The company did not respond to requests for comment. When the tanker was en route to the country, the executive director of Ghana's National Petroleum Authority said the shipment would be blocked if it was destined for the country. The NPA has not responded to multiple requests for comment since the tanker arrived in the territorial waters of the West African nation.

The delivery to Tema would be the first time Russian oil has been delivered to a West African country since October 2018, tracking data shows. Ghana itself is a small oil exporter, supplying an average of about 140,000 barrels per day in the last six months, according to tanker tracking data. It is located next to Nigeria and Angola, two of the largest oil suppliers in sub-Saharan Africa.

After Russia was sanctioned, Moscow redirected its crude oil exports to China and India, disrupting global oil flows and the maritime industry. With Europe having previously been by far the largest market for Russian oil, this has dramatically narrowed the number of buyers. It has also meant that oil barrels had to be discounted at the point of export to compensate for relatively high shipping costs.