Indian Backdoor for Russian Oil Weakens Calls for European Ban

Reuters

Exclusive-Oil traders to cut Russian oil purchases from May 15 – sources

LONDON (Reuters) -Major global trading houses are planning to reduce crude and fuel purchases from Russia’s state-controlled oil companies as early as May 15, sources said, to avoid falling foul of European Union sanctions on Russia. The EU has not imposed a ban on imports of Russian oil in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, because some countries such as Germany are heavily dependent on Russian oil and do not have the infrastructure in place to swap to alternatives. Trading companies are, however, winding down purchases from Russian energy group Rosneft as they seek to comply with language in existing EU sanctions that were intended to limit Russia’s access to the international financial system, the sources said.