Trafigura announces decision to withdraw from Vostok Oil project

The deal to acquire a 10% stake in the Vostok Oil project in December 2020 was the largest for Trafigura in the history of the company. Now the oil trader intends to withdraw from the project,

Oil trader Trafigura intends to withdraw from the Vostok Oil project, in which it acquired a 10% stake in 2020. This is stated in the semi-annual report of the company.

“Trafigura will continue to fully comply with all subsequent sanctions packages. In addition, the group froze investments in Russia and announced a review of its passive non-operating 10% stake in Vostok Oil with the intention of exiting,” the document says.

The trader said he stopped trading oil with sanctioned Russian entities prior to the EU and Swiss sanctions, which took effect May 15. And also significantly reduced the volume of supplies of petroleum products, supplying only the types of fuel necessary for European consumers.

Vostok Oil is the largest project of Rosneft, which includes the Payakhskoye and Irkinskoye fields in Taimyr. It includes already developed fields of the Vankor group and new fields in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

RBC sent a request to the Rosneft press center.

Trafigura acquired 10% of Vostok Oil from Rosneft in December 2020 for €7 billion.

Trafigura chief warns of 'parabolic' rise in oil prices

After the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, the EU imposed sanctions against Russia's largest oil and gas companies - Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and the Transneft pipeline company.

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Trafigura was one of Rosneft's largest exporters of crude oil by sea prior to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, said Trafigura CEO Jeremy Weir. Russia previously accounted for 6% of Trafigura's global business, Weir said, but now the company has largely ceased operations in the country. Weir also noted that he sees no signs of a slowdown in oil demand yet, despite the fact that diesel and gasoline prices have already reached record levels due to a lack of refining capacity.