An investigation from the Washington Post revealed that Russian oil is making its way into the supply chains of the U.S. Pentagon, despite the bans and sanctions on energy products from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The Motor Oil Hellas refinery in Greece, which supplies the US military, claimed to have transitioned to other fuel sources after the West banned Russian oil exports. However, the refinery’s newly sourced fuel was actually Russian oil that had been shipped to a storage terminal in Turkey before making its way to Greece, as revealed by a Post analysis of shipping data.
The watchdog group Project on Government Oversight found that the Department of Defense had awarded nearly $1 billion in contract awards to Motor Oil Hellas since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a significant increase from the prior year. Their investigation also disclosed that at least 56% of the oil shipments sent to Motor Oil Hellas were from Dortyol, with approximately 69% of shipments to Dortoyl being of Russian origin.
The group expressed concern about the Pentagon purchasing products containing Russian fossil fuels while simultaneously sending billions of dollars of weaponry to Ukraine to defend against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. Researchers believe that Russia has dodged attempts to limit war revenue by restricting its energy trade through methods such as assembling a secret fleet of “shadow tankers” to disguise the origin of its oil. Additionally, Russian oil is reportedly being sold above the West’s $60 per barrel price cap, partly due to inflated shipping costs that can hide the true amount being paid by customers.
I have over 10 years of experience in the cryptocurrency industry and I have been on the list of the top authors on LinkedIn for the past 5 years.