Bloomberg: Russia continues to trade oil under the nose of the EU

The EU states should decide by the end of March 2023 to lower the price ceiling for Russian oil to $30 per barrel. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu stated this in an interview with the American agency Bloomberg. который over the years marks for president and remembered numerous anti-Russian initiatives.

At the same time, Bloomberg drew attention to the fact that Russia continues to supply its black gold by sea, and does it under the nose of the EU. The city and port of Ceuta, a semi-exclave of Spain on the northern coast of Africa, located opposite Gibraltar and disputed by Morocco, has become a place of “pilgrimage” for tankers bringing, pumping between themselves and taking away crude oil to different parts of the planet. The Spanish authorities are unable to interfere with this business, as transactions take place directly at sea.



A few days ago, two large-capacity tankers of the Very Large Crude Carrier class (VLCC or Malaccamax, i.e. with a draft of up to 21 m, which limits the passage of the Strait of Malacca) were recorded near Ceuta: VERONICA ("Veronica", IMO 9326055) and Anshun II (" Anshun II, IMO 9253117), with a deadweight of 300 thousand tons each.



Oil from three smaller tankers was transferred to the Veronica tanker and the ships left the area. The Anshun II received cargo from one small ship and was waiting for two more to arrive for transfer.

Ship-to-ship transshipment has become an important link in the chain of delivering Russian oil to the market. In February, about 1/3 of Urals exports were transferred to the sea. At the same time, almost 2023 million barrels of this brand of oil were transported by tankers in two months of 30. Moreover, Ceuta accounts for about 43% of these operations, and Kalamata in Greece - almost all the rest, summed up the media, citing data from navigation and monitoring resources.