Turkish refiner Tupras shifts oil sourcing from Russia to Brazil over US sanctions
File photo shows a close-up view of a Tupras oil storage tank, accessed on Mar. 17, 2025. (AA Photo)
Türkiye’s largest fuel refinery company, Tupras, to begin purchasing Itapu crude oil from Brazil’s Petrobras after halting Russian oil imports following the U.S.’ new sanctions on Russia’s petroleum industry, implemented on Jan. 10.
According to Reuters, tracking data from trade intelligence platforms Kpler and LSEG shows that approximately 1 million barrels of Itapu crude were loaded onto the tanker Joao Candido on March 12. The shipment is expected to arrive at Türkiye’s Izmit port in Kocaeli on April 3-4, where Tupras operates a refinery with a daily processing capacity of 225,800 barrels.
Tupras had been among the largest buyers of Russian crude since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. In 2024 alone, the company imported approximately 305,000 barrels per day of Russian crude, according to Kpler.
US sanctions mounted pressures on Russian oil trade
The latest round of U.S. sanctions, introduced on Jan. 10, significantly escalated restrictions on Russian oil transportation, as Washington blacklisted 183 vessels associated with Russia’s oil trade, including both Russian-controlled tankers and shadow fleet vessels.
The sanctioned Russian-operated ships account for roughly 10% of the total oil tanker capacity leaving Russian ports, while the newly sanctioned shadow fleet vessels—used to evade previous restrictions—make up another 20%.
This marks a sharp increase compared to earlier sanction rounds, which at most impacted 5% of total capacity at the time of their implementation.
Founded in 1983, Tupras operates four refineries across the country, with a total annual refining capacity of 28.1 million tons, making it the seventh-largest refinery in Europe and the 28th largest in the world.
