600,000 barrels of Russian crude oil to Ghana was loaded in Kazakhstan - Report

A cargo containing 600,000 barrels of Russian crude oil to Ghana is reported to have been loaded at a port located in Kazakhstan.

According to the Joy News report, documents in its possession show the exact port where the crude oil cargo was loaded is situated in Aktau, Kazakhstan where it set sail on January 25, 2023, before making its way to Ghana.

The portal said that the certificate of quantity sighted showed that the shipper of the crude oil is; the Hong Kong-based Bellatrix Energy Limited which is said to have carried exactly 79,804.455 Metric Tons of crude oil.

On February 27, 2023, Bloomberg reported that a cargo was carrying 600,000 barrels of Russian crude oil to Ghana.

But a Joy News report said the shipment is currently based at the Tema-based private refinery, Platon Gas Oil Ghana Limited which procured the crude oil.

The barrels of crude oil were to be stored in tanks of the state-owned Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) but sources familiar with the development insist the commodity is yet to be discharged for storage.

For now, the vessel containing the crude oil remains docked at the Tema Harbour while a probe is ongoing to determine its sudden arrival into the country.

Meanwhile, TOR is said to have dispatched its Quality Control personnel who boarded the vessel on Friday, February 24 2023, which is the same day the vessel docked at Tema Harbour.

Accra-based Joy News says it has also sighted an analysis report signed by TOR’s Quality Control Officer which confirms the samples which were taken on February 24, 2023, were ‘Light Crude Oil’

The petroleum sector regulator, NPA is said to be holding the vessel at the Tema Harbour, according to Joy News.

MA/FNOQ