TTE - Germany drops opposition paves way for EU Russian oil embargo

Germany has opposed sanctioning Russian oil imports into Europe; however, Thursday German government officials said they are prepared to stop buying Russian oil, according to the Wall Street Journal (NYSEARCA:USO) (XLE). The move comes following EU Commission plans to end Russian coal imports later this summer (BTU) (CEIX). While US and Canadian embargoes were largely symbolic, as seaborne crude previously destined for North American ports could simply sail east, the EU Embargo could have a meaningful impact on global supplies. With Russian ports running near maximum capacity, reduced pipeline exports to European refiners would be difficult to re-route to global markets and likely to lead to reduced global supplies. The Druzhba pipeline connecting Russia to six oil refineries in Germany, Poland, Austria and Hungry has capacity to export ~1mb/d, and a European oil embargo would likely remove Druzhba barrels from global oil markets. Earlier Thursday, Total (TTE) indicated that sanctions would

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Germany drops opposition, paves way for EU Russian oil embargo