Greenpeace tries to block tanker delivering Russian fuel to ExxonMobil in Norway

Activists from Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion are attempting to block the delivery of Russian jet fuel to ExxonMobil's Slagen import terminal in Norway's Oslo Fjord, Greenpeace said April 25.

Protesters chained themselves to the tanker Ust Luga's anchor chain to prevent it calling outside the Slagen terminal and said Norway should stop importing Russian oil over the war in Ukraine, Greenpeace said.

Registered in Hong Kong and leased by the Russian oil company Novatek, the Ust Luga tanker is loaded with 95,000 mt of jet fuel, according to Greenpeace.

According to Platts cFlow, trade-flow analytics software, however, the 110,000 dwt Ust Luga sailed from the Russian port of Ust Luga April 14 carrying 430,000 barrels of 10 ppm diesel. The tanker remained at anchor off the Slagen terminal early April 25, according to CFlow.

ExxonMobil said the vessel was delivering a Russian cargo under a contract signed before the start of the war in Ukraine, adding that it was fully complying with all sanctions against Russia.

"Deliveries to Norway are fulfilling contracts that were in place prior to the invasion. We have not made any new purchases of Russian products since the invasion, and there are no plans for future purchases," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

UK imports

Although the EU and other key European countries have not yet banned imports of Russian oil, environmental groups are ramping up pressure on governments and fuel suppliers to halt all imports of Russian fossil fuels on the grounds they are financially supporting the war in Ukraine.

Greenpeace also said it estimated that shipments of Russian oil totaling 257,000 mt have been imported into the UK since the war in Ukraine began, with more than four fifths of the oil imports made up of Russian diesel and the rest being fuel oil.

The UK has imposed a ban on Russian-owned, operated or flagged ships from entering UK ports but Russian oil is able to be imported into the UK on tankers owned and flagged by other nations.

On April 12, Greenpeace tried to block a cargo of Russian fuel oil being delivered to the UK's Immingham port in northeast England said to be destined for the nearby 108,000 b/d Lindsay refinery, owned by the Prax Group. Platts cFlow showed the tanker eventually discharged its cargo at the UK port on April 17.