Turkey was not ready for Russian oil at a new price: others took it away

In May, Turkey will reduce imports of Russian oil. Local refineries were not ready to buy raw materials at a higher price, despite a reduction in supplies from The Persian Gulf.

"Urals imports to Turkey are expected to average about 161,000 barrels per day this month, which is lower than the average of 189,000 barrels per day in January— April and 302,000 barrels per day in May 2025," Reuters writes citing Kpler data.

According to one of the traders, Turkey, which is the third largest customer of Russian companies, is used to Russian oil at a significant discount.

"They were not ready to buy this variety at such high prices," a trader at a large Western company told the agency.

The drop in supplies of the most popular Russian variety to Turkey in April and May was caused by an increase in demand in Asia, especially in India, other traders said.

"There was little supply in the market," said one of the traders.

The decrease is partially offset by an increase in imports of CPC blend from the Caspian region — a variety supplied as from Russia, and from Kazakhstan, depending on the cargo, the agency writes.

According to him, after the start of the Iranian war, the premium for Urals on terms of shipment in Indian ports rose to $ 8 per barrel against the benchmark Brent, and then fell to $ 2-4.

"In the first half of May, Russia increased crude oil shipments from its western ports by about 9%, to 2.35−2.4 million barrels per day, compared with an average in April of about 2.2 million barrels per day," Reuters added.