A transport unit of France’s TotalEnergies provisionally chartered a tanker to load crude from Abu Dhabi in early May to Europe, the first such shipment in two years, according to information from traders and a transport report today. .
CSSSA, the shipping arm of TotalEnergies, has chartered the suezmax Moscow Spirit tanker to load 1 million barrels of Murban-type oil from the port of Jebel Dhanna in the UAE to the UK from 1 to 3 May , according to a report.
Das-type crude from Abu Dhabi was last shipped in May 2020 to Italy, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
The arbitration window for Middle East oil to Europe opened after European buyers shunned Russian oil following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which it calls its action in the neighboring country “a special operation”.
More crude oil cargoes from Abu Dhabi — Murban, Das and Upper Zakum — are expected to arrive in Europe in the coming months to replace the Russian deficit as the European Union prepares more sanctions on Russian oil imports, traders said, possibly diverting some supplies that would go to Asia.
