All tankers, except for one, with Kazakh oil, got stuck in the straits of Turkiye when entering the Mediterranean Sea from Russian sea ports, Forbes.kz reports.
At least 20 tankers with 18 million barrels of oil cannot leave the Black Sea and sell oil on world markets due to the demand of the Turkish authorities to provide letters from the insurers of these ships with a guarantee of insurance in Turkish waters, Forbes.ru reports citing Bloomberg. All tankers, except for one, carry cargo from Kazakhstan. One tanker is carrying oil from Russia - about 1 million barrels of Russian Urals oil, which is bound for India, according to Bloomberg, citing reports from port agents and vessel tracking data, the report said.
Problems arose after the EU introduced a price ceiling on the supply of Russian oil. In accordance with it, the bloc banned the insurance of ships with oil, the price of which is more than $60 per barrel. At the same time, despite the fact that the EU also banned all shipments of Russian oil by sea, shipments of Kazakh-grade oil from a terminal on Russia's Black Sea coast are still allowed. Thus, Kazakh oil should not be subject to sanctions, but Ankara may be concerned about the fact that the ships left the Russian port, the agency points out. In this situation, insurers have the right to refuse to provide special letters for cargo that is not under sanctions, Bloomberg notes.
US and UK authorities have urged Turkish officials to rethink their approach to the backlog of ships, the agency said.
Earlier, the Financial Times reported about the congestion of tankers in the straits of Turkey. According to the newspaper, Ankara demanded that tankers awaiting permission to enter the Bosporus and Dardanelles provide letters from insurers confirming, among other things, insurance coverage in the event of oil spills and ship collisions.
After the European Union imposed a price cap on oil from Russia, the Kremlin said that Moscow would not accept a price cap on oil supplies. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak confirmed that Russia would refuse oil supplies to countries that would introduce a price ceiling. According to him, deliveries will be redirected to partners.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
December 7, 2022