INA - SOURCES
Turkey's imports of Russian Urals crude oil via Baltic and Black Sea ports have declined this month, reaching their lowest level in nearly a year and a half, amid shifts in Asian demand and rising global prices due to geopolitical tensions.
"Turkey's average imports of Urals crude will reach approximately 161,000 barrels per day this month, marking a significant decrease compared to 189,000 barrels per day for the period from January to April of this year, and 302,000 barrels per day in May 2025," issued a report by the London Stock Exchange Group and market research firm Kpler, and reviewed by the Iraqi News Agency - INA.
The report's data indicated that "this decline comes despite a decrease in crude oil supplies from the Gulf region due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which led to a surge in global oil prices and a decline in the appeal of Russian crude to Turkey, which had relied on purchasing it at significant discounts."
"The decline is also due to increased Asian demand, particularly from India, which reduced the supply available in the Turkish market and prompted Ankara to partially compensate for this shortfall by increasing its imports of CPC blend from the Caspian Sea region via Russia and Kazakhstan," the report quoted trade sources as saying.
Regarding prices, the premium for Urals crude delivered to Indian ports was between $2 and $4 per barrel above Brent crude, after jumping to $8 earlier. These levels remain significantly higher than they were before the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War.
In return, indicators showed that Russia increased its crude oil shipments from its western ports by 9% in the first half of this month, reaching an average of 2.3-2.4 million barrels per day, up from 2.2 million barrels per day in April.
Turkey is the third largest importer of Russian crude oil globally, after China and India, and the largest importer via Mediterranean seaports.
