Turkey Keeps Russian Fuel Flowing to EU

 

 

“Several times a month, tankers unload tens of thousands of barrels of oil products at a Turkish storage terminal in the port city of Mersin. The vast majority of the ships come directly from Russia.

 

And several times a month, tankers leave that facility carrying similar quantities bound for the European Union.

 

The pattern has emerged under Western sanctions that were designed to choke off the supply of petrodollars to Russia.

 

Now, the EU is increasing scrutiny of the terminal and others like it, and considering sanctions on those ports that it suspects are providing a backdoor for Russian fuel into Europe. The move is part of a broader effort to boost pressure on Russia. Energy exports are the lifeblood of the Russian economy.

 

A thicket of Western sanctions imposed since the events in Ukraine started in 2022 has disrupted Russia's energy machine, but oil still flows -- much of it through Turkey.

 

Turkey is the largest buyer of Russian oil products such as diesel and fuel oil, and one of the biggest of Russian crude after China and India. President Trump has asked Turkey and China to stop the trade, and put tariffs on India for its purchases.

 

In February 2023, when the EU barred shipments of oil products from Russian ports into the bloc, those tankers flocked to Turkey. Before the sanctions, the storage terminal in Mersin, a little-known business called Turkis Enerji, barely had ship traffic. Days after the sanctions took effect, the terminal got its first shipment from Russia in at least five years, according to data from ship-tracking firm Kpler.

 

This year, Turkis Enerji received nearly 6.5 million barrels of oil products, mainly diesel, of which 5.5 million came from Russia worth some $500 million, according to Kpler data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, or CREA. The facility exported 4.4 million barrels to the EU in that time -- more than four times what it had taken in from non-Russian sources -- meaning its shipments to the bloc likely contained Russian products, analysts say.

 

Tufan Ayrik, general manager at Turkis Enerji and part-owner of the company, said his facility has never stored fuel shipped from Russia. Asked about the 5.5 million barrels of fuel that, according to Kpler, arrived from Russia at the company's mooring in the bay of Mersin this year, Ayrik said he couldn't discuss customers.” [1]

 

1. World News: Turkey Keeps Russian Fuel Flowing to EU. Dalton, Matthew.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 30 Dec 2025: A8.