A German refinery partly owned by Moscow has started mixing US oil with Russian crude


Phil Rosen
Mon, August 15, 2022

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.Andreas Gora/Getty Images

A German oil refinery in Schwedt has begun blending US crude with Russian Urals, Bloomberg reported Monday.


The refinery, which is partly owned by Rosneft, is typically reliant on Russian crude but has started to turn to alternative supplies.

Germany's Economy Minister has previously noted that Schwedt faces the biggest challenge amid refiners to wean off Russian crude.

Germany's refinery in Schwedt — which is partly owned by Moscow's Rosneft — is now mixing US crude with Russian Urals, sources told Bloomberg.

According to the report, about 20% of what the refinery is processing is US crude. The supplies are being imported via Germany's Baltic coast port of Rostock, which only recently saw its first delivery of American oil in several years.

The US crude supplies mark a pivot for Schwedt, which is based near the Polish border, as it has long relied on Russian crude that comes in from the Druzhba pipeline.

In April, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Schwedt will face challenges in weaning off Russian supplies, and that it would need additional support from Poland to secure deliveries from elsewhere.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Europe has been trying to reduce imports of Russian oil, and the EU plans to cut off seaborne imports by the end of this year.

But ahead its partial embargo, the EU saw an uptick in flows at the start of August, pointing to the difficulty of finding alternative supplies.

Through the first week of this month, shipments to European buyers notched a five-week high, and cargo ships continue to obscure the origins of crude to allow sanctioned goods to keep moving.