Britain has been circumventing its own ban on Russian oil by importing millions of barrels of fuel processed in India and Türkiye, according to a report by Politico. Despite imposing a ban on Russian crude and oil products in February 2022, the UK has reportedly imported approximately £4 billion ($5.36 billion) worth of jet fuel and other petroleum products refined in India and Türkiye between 2022 and 2025.
An estimated £1.6 billion ($2.15 billion) of these imports are believed to have been made from Russian oil, which is refined into jet fuel and diesel in Indian and Turkish refineries before being re-sold to countries worldwide. This loophole allows the UK to effectively evade its own sanctions, as the origin of the crude cannot be traced once it has been processed.
Industry experts have long warned that enforcing sanctions on refined fuels is challenging due to the difficulty in determining the origin of the crude. Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, noted in 2022 that no system exists to track the origin of such products. As a result, India and Türkiye, which are among the top buyers of Russian oil, have been refining the sanctioned crude and re-selling it to countries globally.
The UK’s importation of these products has significant implications, with roughly one in six jet fuel shipments entering the country coming from refineries that use Russian crude. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimates that a substantial portion of the imported fuel is derived from Russian oil.
The British government has imposed various sanctions on Russian oil majors, including Rosneft and Lukoil, and has joined the G7 price cap on Russian crude. However, Moscow maintains that these sanctions have had little impact on the country’s energy revenues. The UK’s continued importation of Russian oil products, albeit indirectly, undermines its efforts to curb Moscow’s energy revenues.
In response, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced plans to continue targeting oil traders and a ‘shadow fleet’ allegedly used to transport Russian crude. The UK’s actions will be closely watched, as the international community continues to grapple with the complexities of enforcing sanctions on Russian oil.
