Is Turkey's government hampering oil supplies?
West apparently annoyed by the oil tanker jam on the Bosphorus
Created: 08/12/2022, 17:15
By: Fabian Mueller
Ships are waiting in front of Turkey, which are denied access to the Bosphorus.
The background are problems with the implementation of the oil embargo against Russia.
(Archive image) © Tolga Ildun/imago
Oil tankers are piling up on the Bosporus, and the Turkish government has been demanding new ship insurance since the oil price cap came into effect.
The West is angry.
Ankara - At least 22 crude oil tankers have been prevented from transiting Turkish waters because the Turkish government in Ankara fears the cargoes may not be insured.
The Financial Times reports.
The West is now blaming Turkey for stopping oil shipments from the Black Sea, the report said.
This is probably due to the new regulation, which denies tankers transporting Russian crude oil access to European insurance unless the oil is sold at a maximum price of $60 a barrel – better known as the so-called price cap.
However, two Western officials told the
Financial Times
that most of the ships that were stopped were carrying oil from Kazakhstan, not Russia.
"It appears that all but one of the 20 or so crude oil tankers awaiting passage through the strait are transporting oil from Kazakhstan," one of the officials said.
Tanker congestion on the Bosphorus: upper price limit leads to dispute between Turkey, Russia and the EU
The official continues: “These cargoes are under no circumstances subject to the price cap regulation”, the insurance status of these ships should therefore not have changed compared to the previous months.
Oil produced in Kazakhstan is usually piped through Russia to ports on Russia's Black Sea coast, where it is loaded onto tankers and transported to the Mediterranean Sea via Turkey's Bosphorus Straits.
In principle, transport is not restricted by western sanctions.
But Turkey has expressed dissatisfaction with the price cap on Russian oil, stressing the risk of uninsured vessels in its waters and since the rule came into effect, it has required all crude oil tankers crossing the Bosphorus to show evidence of valid insurance covering oil spills and collisions, for example covers.
Price cap for Russian oil: ship insurer rejects blame for traffic jam
The International Group of P&I Clubs, which claims to insure around 90 percent of the tankers, recently declared that it was unable to meet the demands.
Because Turkey would require the insurer to pay, even if, contrary to expectations, a ship should have violated sanctions.
The Western official told the
Financial Times
: "The price cap policy does not require ships to obtain an insurance guarantee for each individual voyage, as the Turkish government now wants." only the result of Turkish politics.
Video: Russian oil price cap comes into effect
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A solution is not yet in sight, US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo negotiated on Wednesday with Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal.
The British Treasury also said it was working with the US and the EU to find a solution.
"There is no reason for ships to be barred from entering the Bosphorus Strait for reasons of environmental protection or health and safety," the ministry said.
Russia itself has said it will not sell oil to buyers who want to stay within the price cap.
The country said it would put together a "shadow fleet" to circumvent the restrictions and continue supplying oil to India and China.
(fmu)
