Europe is importing substantially more crude from Angola as the continent’s ban on Russian oil upends typical trade routes, Blomberg reports.
More than 40 per cent of Angola’s 32 crude cargoes for loading this month are bound for destinations west of the Suez Canal – mostly to Europe as well as the US and Brazil – according to a survey of traders specialising in West African barrels.
This represents nearly double the amount from a year earlier, when just a quarter of Angola’s monthly supply was traded on western routes, the data show. Each consignment holds about one million barrels of oil.
Refiners in the European Union have been seeking alternative supplies following the bloc’s ban on crude imports by sea from Russia in early December. Angola, a member of OPEC, is one of Africa’s top producers.
[See more: China can be expected to pivot back to Angola, analysts say]
European importers include companies that drill for oil in Angola, such as TotalEnergies SE, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. They can opt to process the crude at their own plants in Europe and North America instead of selling the volumes to Asia.
As Europe takes more Angolan supply, fewer barrels are going to China, typically the biggest customer. Last February, China was the destination for about 55 per cent of Angola’s crude exports. This month, it’s more than 40 per cent.
China has been taking more discounted Russian barrels, displacing its other suppliers.
