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Many countries increased imports of Russian oil despite Western sanctions: Report

Thursday, 14 July 2022 9:05 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 14 July 2022 9:09 PM ]

File photo shows an oil processing facility in Russia.

Many countries have increased imports of Russian oil, despite mounting Western sanctions against Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine, a report says.

The US and the European Union have slammed many rounds of sanctions against Russia since February 24, when Moscow began the “special military operation” in neighboring Ukraine.

The US and its European allies also banned the import of Russian oil, yet many countries have continued to purchase oil from Russia.

According to a report by Reuters, “While many countries have banned or discouraged purchases from Russia, China, India and several African and Middle Eastern nations have increased imports.”

In its report on Thursday, Reuters also said Saudi Arabia has even more than doubled its fuel oil imports from Russia for the year’s second quarter.

Data obtained by the agency through Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking showed that the kingdom had “imported 647,000 tons (48,000 barrels per day) of fuel oil from Russia via Russian and Estonian ports in April-June this year. That was up from 320,000 tons in the same period a year ago.”

The report put the increased imports down to the kingdom’s “summer cooling demands.” It said the hike would also “free up the kingdom’s own crude for export.”

The US has been piling pressure on Riyadh and others to increase their oil production capacity to compensate for the sanctions that Washington and its allies have faced Moscow with.

The report, however, said “there is little spare capacity for Saudi and others to increase production in the short term.”