Vitol sends first shipment of Russian ESPO crude to UAE, data shows

A sign is pictured in front of the building of commodity trading firm Vitol Group in Geneva October 4, 2011. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/Files

SINGAPORE, May 4 (Reuters) – The world’s largest independent oil trader, Vitol, loaded a shipment of Russian ESPO Blend crude for the United Arab Emirates this week, the first such voyage for the grade, data shows. of several analysis companies.

The Suezmax tanker Kriti Breeze, chartered for $2.3 million, loaded the 740,000-barrel cargo from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino on May 3 and is heading to the port of Fujairah, according to data from Refinitiv, Kpler and Vortexed.

The tanker is expected to unload the cargo in Fujairah in late May or early June, according to the data.

Two traders who regularly track ESPO rough said the rough is usually sold in North Asia.

The shipping is “very creative and the FOB (free on board) discounts have to be huge for it to work,” said one of the traders, referring to the crude spot discount against Dubai quotes, excluding transportation costs.

Vitol could not immediately be reached for comment outside office hours.

The European Union is expected to issue oil sanctions against Russia on Wednesday for invading Ukraine. Moscow calls its actions there a “special military operation”. Read more

Vitol has previously said that traded volumes of Russian oil will “decline significantly in the second quarter as current contractual obligations diminish”, and that it will cease trading Russian oil by the end of 2022. read more

Reporting by Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Tom Hogue

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.