At least three of the Russian oil industry’s largest clients were unable to obtain letters of credit from Western banks on Thursday to cover the cost of supplies, Reuters reported , citing market sources. The largest buyers of the Russian grade Urals in the EU are oil majors BP, Shell, ENI, TotalEnergies, Equinor, Chevron and Exxon Mobil, as well as commodity traders Vitol, Glencore, Trafigura, Gunvor and Mercuria.
“Banks are reluctant to open letters of credit, so we have a bit of a dead end,” said a representative of one of the companies.
Tanker carriers are also wary of taking the risks of working with Russia, which is threatened by the West with the most severe sanctions, including measures against state banks and export controls, writes Bloomberg.
Representatives of five oil trading companies and oil refineries told the agency that they are temporarily not buying Russian raw materials.