Petroleum industry in Russia

Russian energy giant Lukoil has announced plans to sell its largest asset in the Balkans, the refinery in Burgas, Bulgaria, to a Qatari-British consortium by the end of the year, marking a significant shift in Moscow's influence over energy supplies in Southeastern Europe, as reported by the Financial Times.

The European Union and 12 partner countries have met in Brussels to discuss the effectiveness of Western sanctions on Russia and ways to strengthen the G7 price cap on Russian oil, the EU Commission said on Tuesday.

In the first half of 2024, Western allies, including Bulgaria, the European Union and the United States, purchased around 2 billion dollars worth of oil products from Turkey that were refined from Russian crude oil, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) and the Center for Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Hungarian state oil company MOL is nearing the conclusion of negotiations to establish a new arrangement for securing Russian crude oil after Ukraine banned its main partner, Lukoil, from using Ukrainian pipelines.

Traders are moving Russian diesel cargoes to a new ship-to-ship (STS) loadings site in the northern Aegean Sea, as Western sanctions hit vessels carrying fuel loaded in Russian ports, LSEG and market sources data show.

Traders are moving Russian diesel cargoes to a new ship-to-ship (STS) loadings site in the northern Aegean Sea, as Western sanctions hit vessels carrying fuel loaded in Russian ports, LSEG and market sources data show.

Hungary has accused Ukraine of blackmailing both itself and Slovakia by halting oil supplies, according to a statement from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's advisor, Gergely Gulyas. The accusations come in the wake of Ukraine's decision to impose sanctions on Russia's Lukoil, which has disrupted the oil transit through the country.

Ukraine has halted a third of Russian oil imports to Hungary, leading Hungary and Slovakia to request immediate consultations with Ukraine, mediated by the European Commission. This action came after Ukraine stopped transferring Lukoil oil to the west last week.

The Greek navy on Wednesday extended an advisory effectively banning ship traffic off the coast of the southeastern Peloponnese that two sources said was aimed at deterring ship-to-ship transfers of Russian oil off Greece.

The government believes it has found a way to disrupt the sanctions-busting operations taking place off the southern coast of the Greek mainland that allow Russian oil exports.

The Hellenic Navy has issued a navigational guidance closing off the Laconian Gulf, off the southeastern coast of the Peloponnese, for naval exercises from May 1-9.