Tanker with Russian oil sits off Ghana 2 weeks after arrival

An oil tanker loaded with Russian crude has been idling off the coast of Ghana for more than two weeks, Report informs via Bloomberg.

The tanker Theseus reached Ghana’s territorial waters on Feb. 24 and was supposed to discharge its load into storage tanks at the Tema oil refinery, known as TOR. The National Petroleum Authority granted a delivery period for the cargo to be unloaded, but national security considerations have held up the process, according to people familiar with the matter.

Russia’s pool of buyers shrank dramatically in December after the European Union banned imports from the country, forcing traders to find new markets for Russian barrels. This is the first Russian shipment to the West African country in at least four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The tanker loaded about 600,000 barrels of crude from Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in late January, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Clearance was given for the tanker after claims that the cargo was from Kazakhstan, one of the people said. But data from Vortexa and Kpler and a port agent report for Novorossiysk showed it originated from Russia.

Separately, a product tanker SCF Yenisei with Russian diesel also arrived at Tema a week ago after loading about 40,000 tons from Russia’s Baltic port of Primorsk in early February, according to a port agent report and ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. It has yet to discharge.