Saudi Arabia imports record volumes of discounted Russian fuel oil in June

Jack Dutton

Jul 13, 2023

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R) and Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud hold a joint press conference following their talks in Moscow on March 9, 2023. — ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/AFP via Getty Images

Saudi Arabia imported record volumes — a near tenfold year-on-year increase — of fuel oil from Russia last month at a discount due to Western sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war, new data shows.

Europe was formerly the top market for Russian oil and petroleum products but following Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries are now blocked from buying Russian fuels.

Since then, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region have been emerging as top buyers of discounted Russian oil and gas.

Reuters reported Thursday, citing data from analytics firm Kpler, that Saudi Arabia imported a record volume of 193,000 barrels per day this month as the kingdom looks to use fuel oil to meet summer power demand instead of crude oil amid production cuts.