Correction: This story has been modified to emphasize that CREA has not verified the precise amount of oil products from Russian crude oil that passes through laundering countries to price cap-coalition countries.
Five countries have expanded imports of Russian oil in the wake of the Ukraine invasion and refined it into products they are selling to countries that have sanctioned Russian oil, according to a report released today by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Their “laundering” operation is undermining the price cap on Russian oil and fueling the invasion, the analysts say.
“This is currently a legal way of exporting oil products to countries that are imposing sanctions on Russia as the product origin has been changed,” according to the report. “This process provides funds to Putinʼs war chest.”
CREA identifies China, India, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Singapore as “laundromat countries” that increased imports of Russian oil after the Ukraine invasion. They also increased exports of refined products to the “price-cap countries” that sanctioned Russian oil, including the European Union, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.
“The EU, G7 and Australia … continue to import Russian fossil fuels as refined oil products from third countries and allow transportation on their vessels and insurance,” said Isaac Levi, Energy Analyst and co-author of the report.
The EU has been the largest importer of these refined products, according to CREA, followed by Australia. And most of the laundered products are traveling on European ships.
Five countries are helping Russian oil evade the cap set by a coalition led by the G7 nations.
