Türkiye’s imports of Russian oil are on the rise to record levels. Türkiye exports crude oil and petroleum products to Europe, while Russian gas flows through the TurkStream pipeline in Türkiye to European countries!
The quantity of oil and gas produced by Türkiye is so small that it is insignificant. But Türkiye’s major role has emerged as a link between Russia and Central Asia on the one hand, and Europe on the other hand, and also between the Middle East on the one hand, and Europe on the other hand.
The present Turkish role in the energy markets was expected, as our company, Energy Outlook Advisors, published a report in 2022 in English in which we spoke in detail about the future Turkish role in light of the war in Ukraine, the sanctions on Russia, Turkish-Russian cooperation, and the meeting between Erdogan and Putin to discuss the idea of transforming Türkiye to a gas trading hub in Europe.
Data from Kpler, a company which tracks ship movements around the world, indicate an increase in Türkiye’s imports of Russian oil after the Russian attack on Ukraine. It also indicates a significant increase after the sanctions imposed by the G7 and the European Union on Russian oil. Türkiye’s imports of Russian oil were around 300,000 barrels a day before the Russian attack on Ukraine. These imports approached one million barrels a day last month. Looking at Türkiye’s oil imports through seaports, we find that it imported oil and petroleum products from Iraq, Egypt, India, and Greece. Imports from Iraq do not include land pipelines. The quantities of these imports mentioned here are which were via sea.
Imports from Egypt may often be from Saudi Arabia or other Gulf countries. They are exported to the port of Ain Sukhna near the Suez Canal, then transported via the SUMED pipeline to the port of Sidi Kerir near Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. Imports from India and Greece are petroleum products.
Türkiye’s production of oil and gas is minimal and negligible. Therefore any “export” is in fact a re-export. We notice that the amount of sea exports is close to the amount of sea imports. Most of the crude oil exports come via a pipeline from Azerbaijan by land to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.
Most of Türkiye’s oil exports go to Europe, most of it to Italy. It is also exported to other European countries, including the Netherlands and France. Some of the Azerbaijani oil exported from the Turkish port of Ceyhan goes to Israel. This is one of the reasons for writing this article: President Erdogan is under pressure from various groups to stop oil exports to Israel. Despite the strong relations between Azerbaijan and Israel, Azerbaijan announced a few days ago that it does not export directly to Israel, indicating that it sells it to business houses and they sell it to Israel. The key point here is that both governments are under pressure to stop oil exports to Israel.
Most of Türkiye’s crude oil exports come from Azerbaijan via a pipeline extending from Baku in Azerbaijan to the port of Ceyhan, passing through the city of Tbilisi in Georgia, but there is a quantity of crude oil that comes from Russia to Türkiye. This oil is either re-exported as is, or refined in Turkish refineries and then sold in the form of oil products to European and other countries. Thus, Türkiye plays the same role as India and China: importing Russian oil and then selling it to the Europeans and Americans in one way or another.
[by Anas Al-Hajji in Independent Arabia]
Compiled and translated by Faizul Haque