Russia’s spot sales problem

Trading houses confirm they are not buying outside of term contracts, leaving the question of who will lift Russian barrels

The CEOs of four of the world’s largest commodity traders admit they are no longer prepared to purchase spot cargoes of Russian oil—albeit the words of Vitol chief Russell Hardy are slightly less categorical than his peers. But, with several IOCs also pledging to halt all trade in the country’s output, it does leave a potentially looming crunch for exports. “We are lifting contractual volumes, pre-agreed long-term contract volumes, which we are obliged to do, and we are not developing any new business at all,” Jeremy Weir, CEO of Trafigura, told the FT Commodities Global Summit in late March. “We do not buy anything on the spot market,” says Torbjorn Tornqvist, CEO of Gunvor, of his firm’s a