Vitol sends first shipment of Russian ESPO crude cargo to UAE, data shows

THE world's largest independent oil trader, Vitol, loaded a cargo of Russian ESPO Blend crude for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week, the first such voyage for the grade, data from several analytics firms showed.

Suezmax tanker Kriti Breeze, chartered for US$2.3 million, loaded the 740,000-barrel cargo from the Far East port of Kozmino on May 3, and is heading to the port of Fujairah, data from Refinitiv, Kpler and Vortexa showed.

According to one trader, Vitol might supply the volume to its own refinery in Fujairah.

Vitol via subsidiary VTTI company, which it co-owns with IFM and ADNOC, controls a refinery complex in the emirate with a capacity of some 100,000 barrels per day and storage for about 2 million tonnes of oil.

The tanker is expected to discharge the cargo at Fujairah in late May or early June, the data showed.

Two traders who regularly track ESPO crude said the crude is typically sold to North Asia.

The shipment is "very creative and FOB (free-on-board) discounts must be huge for it to work", one of the traders said, referring to the crude's spot discount to Dubai quotes, excluding freight cost.

Vitol did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The European Union is expected to outline oil sanctions against Russia on Wednesday (May 4) for invading Ukraine. Moscow calls its actions there a "special military operation".

Vitol has previously said traded volumes of Russian oil "will diminish significantly in the second quarter as current term contractual obligations decline," and it will cease trading Russian oil by the end of 2022. REUTERS