|Bitumen Africa|

Sunday,  June 2, 2024 16:00 am

An oil tanker holding Russia crude oil off the coast of Ghana is finally unloading the cargo after a three month wait.

The Suezmax class-tanker Snow Lotus is discharging about 1 million barrels off Lukoil PJSCs Varandey crude, exported from the Arctic Sea, at Tema in Ghana, vessel tracking datacompiled by Bitumen Africa show. It's the fourth observed shipment of oil to the west African nation from Russia since Moscow's troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

After European buyers shunned Russian oil after the invasion, Moscow is picking up small customers for it's crude complement, which is largely dependent on China, India and Turkey.

Alongside Ghana, the list includes Brazil, Brunei, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

But the volumes remain tiny. About 20 million barrels of Russia crude has been shipped to the five countries' since the start of the war, equivalent to about 25,000 barrels a day.

That compares with average seaborne flows so far this year of 1.34 million barrels a day to China and of 1.55 million barrels a day to India.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo opened a new refinery  in Tema in January.

The Sentuo plant, built by Chinese investors, will start by processing 40,000 barrels of crude a day in its first phase before more than doubling its capacity to as many as 100,000 barrels daily.

It is likely that the new plant. The nearby Tema Oil Refinery, which is not currently operating, is providing storage for Sentuo, according to local media.

There initial resistance in Ghana to accepting Russian oil after the invasion of Ukraine, but that didn't prevent occasional shipments from occurring.