Russia turns to UAE for crude oil exports

Russia has been exporting more crude oil to the United Arab Emirates, which is one of the impacts of Western sanctions on Russia left the country with less buyers amidst its war in Ukraine, Reuters reported on Monday.

Russia has been selling crude and refined products at discounted prices, while cooperation between the country and Gulf oil producers like Saudi Arabia and UAE, who are resisting Western attempts to isolate Russia, has been growing.

Ship tracking data shows 1.5 million Russian crude oil barrels being exported since 2022 to the UAE, which is already one of the world’s biggest oil producers.

The first Russian crude oil shipment to the UAE was in 2019, and while shipments inclined since April 2022, they were briefly halted between July and October of the same year, according to data issued by Kpler and Refinitiv.

UAE has maintained cooperation with Russia in OPEC, in addition to China, India, as well as African and Middle Eastern nations increasing their imports of Russian crude, while other countries banned or discouraged Russian oil purchases.

Saudi Arabia is one of the significant exporters of Russian fuel oil, as it is working on burning at power plants and freeing up more crude for exporting.