The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) released a report on 25 February detailing the significant surge in North African countries’ purchases of Russian oil products, which comes as a result of heavy western sanctions against Moscow, and signifies the growing economic ties between Russia and the region.
According to WSJ, countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Egypt – all of whom did not follow suit in complying with western sanctions – have “stepped forward to become voracious buyers of its diesel and other refined oil products.”
Prior to the war in Ukraine, 60 percent of Russian oil products flowed through the European market. However, as a result of an EU ban on Russian energy, Moscow has resorted to redirecting exports to newer markets, the WSJ report states, adding that North Africa has “picked up the slack.”
The report goes on to say that between 2021 and January 2023, Moroccan imports of Russian diesel jumped from 600,000 barrels to two million barrels, with another 1.2 million that are set to make their way into the country this month, according to market data provider Kpler.
Tunisia, which in 2021 was importing close to no Russian energy products at all, has been “devouring Russian supplies,” WSJ said, bringing in 2.8 million barrels last month. Tunisia is also expected to import another 3.1 million barrels this month. Egypt and Algeria have also witnessed a surge in imports, the report adds.
The increased Russian imports into Morocco and Tunisia coincide with the two North African nations’ surge in their own refinement and export of oil.
This raises concern in the west that “Russian cargoes [are] being blended with other oil products and re-exported … [disguising] the ultimate origin of the products and [complicating] Western efforts” to wean their economies off of Russian fuel, WSJ goes on to say.
“The quantities North African countries are importing are too much for them to take on their own,” Viktor Katona, senior oil analyst at Kpler, was quoted to have said in the report.
“Trust me, we are not witnessing some renaissance in Maghrebi refining,” he added, suggesting that unrefined oil is being re-exported out of North Africa into European markets with the aim of alleviating shortages in the wake of EU sanctions on Russian energy.
While possible, these large-scale imports of Russian energy into North Africa are also indicative of the growing economic relationship between Moscow and the region.
This is particularly true with Algeria, which has applied to join the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) group of emerging economies, a beneficial alternative to the dominant US and western-led economic system, especially for countries negatively affected by western sanctions.