Turkish Port Halts Russian Oil Imports Amid Sanctions Pressure

A Turkish oil terminal on the Mediterranean will stop importing Russian oil amid intensified U.S. sanctions pressure on Moscow’s exports, the terminal’s operator told Reuters on Tuesday.

Global Terminal Services (GTS) operates the mid-sized Dortyol terminal on the Mediterranean and it has decided to stop accepting Russia-origin volumes to avoid possible connections to Russian oil.

“GTS decided to cut all possible connections to Russian oil and declared accordingly to its customers in late February 2024 that even if there is no breach of any laws, regulations or sanctions, it would not accept any product of Russian origin or any products loaded from Russian ports as an additional measure to the sanction rules in effect,” the company told Reuters.

All previous imports of Russian oil have been in compliance with the applicable sanctions, including the G7 price cap on Russian crude and petroleum products, GTS added. 

After the EU banned imports of Russian crude and products last year, Turkey has become one of the biggest importers of Russian oil.

However, a recent U.S. sanctions threat to impose secondary sanctions on financial firms and other intermediaries doing business with Russia has already resulted in lower Turkish-Russian trade, including in oil.

Trade between Russia and Turkey has suffered a setback since late December with some payments for imported Russian oil cargoes delayed, as banks are boosting compliance checks following a U.S. threat to sanction financial institutions for facilitating business with Russia.

In December, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order, which authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to potentially impose sanctions on a foreign financial institution if it is found to have “conducted or facilitated any significant transaction or transactions for or on behalf of any person designated” in the sanctions against Russia.      

As a result of this new sanctions threat, payments have been disrupted with some delays seen in payments for oil cargoes that Turkey imports from Russia, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told Reuters last month.   

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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