Investigations by CREA and CSD suggest that European entities may have been importing Russian oil products that are either mixed or re-exported from Turkish storage terminals. An example cited is the Toros Ceyhan oil terminal, which received 26,923 tonnes of gasoil from Novorossiysk in May 2023 and subsequently shipped a similar volume to Greece's MOH Corinth refinery. This trade exploits legal loopholes, allowing blended Russian oil products to enter the EU.1)
Pressure on the flat price has continued this morning with suggestions that oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region could resume in March, which could see exports of around 300k b/d through the Ceyhan pipeline. Flows were halted in early 2023 after a payment dispute between Iraq and Turkey. However, this is not the first time we have heard suggestions that exports could restart. In addition, if flows were to resume it would complicate issues around Iraqi output and its compliance with production targets under the OPEC+ deal.(https://archive.ph/8hw9c#selection-1077.0-1080.0)) 2)