Turkey refuses to relent on insurance demands as Bosporus tanker queue lengthens
Splash247Dec 09, 2022
On Friday, 28 oil tankers were waiting to cross the Bosporus and Dardanelles, with Turkey citing the ships' lack of insurance papers as the reason for the logjam.
This comes as the G7 countries, EU, and Australia have all agreed to bar shipping services, such as insurers, from allowing Russian oil exports unless it's sold at a low or capped price to deprive Moscow of wartime income.
While the US and Europe seek to pressure Turkey into obeying their rules rather than its own, the truth is that this new insurance verification procedure is aimed at preventing Russia from circumventing sanctions. If Western powers want to deprive Putin of oil revenue, they should be applauding the prudent move by Ankara.
Since this is Kazakh oil and not Russian, there should be no issue here. With shipping companies claiming Turkey is asking for above price cap commission — putting them at risk of facing sanctions — the US and its allies have stepped in to resolve the issue and get oil moving westward again.