Poland begins to purchase Iranian oil as an alternative to imports from Russia
Oil trader Mercuria, the largest seller of Russian Urals oil in Poland, is closing down its oparations with Urals oil and emptying Russian oil out of its tanks in the port of Gdansk, Reuters reports.
It is noted that the oil trader will use a tanker to bring in Iranian oil. Mercuria will send more than 250,000 tons of unsold Urals oil to Asia using the super tanker Atlantas (VLCC). The same tanker will bring back two million barrels of Iranian oil to Gdansk.
According to the agency, Polish refinery company Lotos signed a contract with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to buy 2 million barrels of oil; the cargo will arrive in Gdansk in mid-August.
At the same time a representative of Mercuria stated that the company is still interested in the Polish market. “The unloading of Urals from tanks in Gdansk is just the company's response to market changes, it does not mean that Mercuria plans to stop working in Gdansk or in Poland,” the agency stated.
It was also added that Urals lost its share in the Polish market in 2015 due to the increased activity of Near and Middle Eastern producers.