Saudi Arabia, one of the largest producers of oil, has joined the growing list of countries importing Russian oil despite Western sanctions.
According to data reviewed by Reuters news agency, the Gulf country imported 647,000 tonnes of Russian oil in the second quarter, i.e., from April to June. In the same period a year ago, Saudi imported 320,000 tonnes of oil.
For the full year 2021, Saudi Arabia imported 1.05 million tonnes of Russian fuel oil, Reuters said citing the data obtained through Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking.
The kingdom’s reliance on Russian oil is at odds with their Western allies who have been seeking to choke the Russian treasury through its sanctions, even as Vladimir Putin continues to fund his war with oil and gas for cheap prices.
“Saudi Arabia has indeed been ramping up imports of Russian fuel oils as there are no sanctions preventing this from happening,” Peter La Cour, an oil analyst at Energy Aspects, told Bloomberg.
“Russian fuel oil is the cheapest barrel available to fuel Saudi summer power generation demand and makes economic sense.”
Apart from Saudi, major buyers of Russian oil have been India and China, who are struggling to control inflation that has shot up due recently after the Russian-Ukraine war.
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Saudi has been importing Russian oil through Egypt, accounting for at least 110,000 barrels per day in June. Cairo also imported 70,000 barrels per day from Russia in June, Reuters said.
This development comes at a time when US President Joe Biden is on a visit to the kingdom in a bid to restore diplomatic relationships, bolster security and more importantly, increase the global flow of oil.
(With inputs from agencies)
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