Rebalancing Seen in Global Trade with ‘Crude Swapping’

As oil refiners worldwide seek to distance themselves from Russian crude imports, a consultancy recently predicted a “rebalance” in the global crude oil trade.

The shift would occur via “‘crude swapping’ between ‘self-sanctioning’ advanced economies and developing markets,” said Wood Mackenzie’s Alex Sun, managing consultant.

After the United States imposed sanctions on Russian crude oil following the invasion of Ukraine, European companies followed suit with curbs that have displaced up to 1.2 million b/d of Urals crude, Wood Mackenzie stated. Urals is Russia’s most common export crude grade. 

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