MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia is set to deliver around 750,000 barrels, or 100,000 metric tons, of a mix of Arctic heavy ARCO oil and gas condensate, a type of light oil, to Syria’s Banias port, traders said and LSEG data showed.
Russia has long considered Syria as a key gateway for its trade and military operations in the Middle East and Africa. Both Russian oil and gas condensate are subject to Western sanctions, complicating their sale on global markets.
Russian and Syrian officials discussed potential energy cooperation during a meeting in Moscow in October.
The tanker Antarktika, an Aframax vessel able to carry about 700,000 to 800,000 barrels of oil, is at anchor near Banias port after visiting areas close to Russia’s Murmansk and Ust-Luga ports to load oil and condensate, LSEG data shows.
Two traders said that the vessel loaded ARCO oil produced by Russia’s Gazprom Neft and condensate produced by gas producer Novatek. The buyer and seller of the cargo was not clear.
Gazprom Neft and Novatek did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Syria’s oil ministry declined to comment, according to a statement relayed by its information ministry.
Russia supplied several cargoes of Arctic oil grades to Syria earlier this year.
ARCO is a heavy oil produced on the Prirazlomnaya offshore platform. One of the traders said that ARCO was not suitable for processing at most refineries unless it was mixed with a light grade or condensate.
In September, a drone strike hit Novatek’s Ust-Luga gas condensate processing plant, forcing a shutdown of two of its condensate processing units. The disruption left Novatek with surplus condensate available for export.
Russia also has shipped several cargoes of diesel to Syria this year.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow. Additional reporting by Maya Gebeily in Beirut. Editing by Mark Potter)
