MOSCOW: Russia has diverted its naphtha cargoes from Oman amid the Middle East crisis as it looks for new buyers, traders said and LSEG data showed, with at least one tanker now heading for Singapore.
Iran’s strikes on Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and US strikes against it have disrupted energy production and shipping, including naphtha loadings and discharges.
Since the European Union’s full embargo on Russian oil products took effect in February 2023, most Russian naphtha has been directed to the Middle East and Asia.
Middle Eastern countries are also the top supplier to Asia with the recent disruption forcing Asia’s naphtha margin to four-year highs, while at least one South Korean naphtha cracker operator was considering declaring force majeure and another has cut its operating rate by around a fifth.
The Liberia-flagged tanker, Amfitrion, which loaded in February in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk destined for Oman, last week halted navigation near the Gulf of Masira and on Tuesday turned for Singapore, according to LSEG data.
