A recent report has revealed that a shipment of Russian oil is on its way to storage tanks in Ghana, despite Ghana’s administration formally denying involvement in any such business.
After the European Union’s decision to halt practically all seaborne imports from Russia in December, the development raises the possibility that dealers are searching the market for new consumers of Russian barrels. Moscow became heavily dependent on Chinese and Indian imports as a result of the bloc’s policies.
This report is according to tanker tracking data compiled by the American media company Bloomberg, which disclosed that the tanker Theseus arrived in Ghana’s territorial waters on Friday, the 24th of February, 2023, carrying about 600,000 barrels of Russian oil from a port in the Black Sea.
Its cargo was due to be pumped into storage tanks in Tema, people with knowledge of the matter said. The last signal from the vessel was on Sunday evening, by which time unloading had yet to begin.
As the Group of Seven and the European Union slapped harsh sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, the country has come under pressure to maintain its oil earnings.
Virtually all European Union corporations are forbidden from importing Russian crude and petroleum products or providing critical services such as insurance to nations that acquire such exports over a regulated price. According to the International Energy Agency, Russia’s petroleum income in December decreased by about 20% from the prior month due to significant discounts on the country’s oil.
The CEO of Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority had stated prior to this report that the shipment would be stopped if it was headed for Ghana. Once it entered the territorial waters of the west African country, the NPA ignored many demands for comment.
It was gathered that the crude will be stored in tanks at the Tema Oil Refinery. The delivery of Russian oil to Tema would be the first such delivery to a West African nation since at least October 2018, according to the tracking information.
According to tanker monitoring data published by Bloomberg, Ghana itself is a tiny oil exporter, moving an average of approximately 140,000 barrels per day during the previous six months. Also, the two largest suppliers in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria, and Angola, are nearby.
