Global commodities trader Trafigura Group will stop all purchases of crude oil from Russia’s state oil company Rosneft by May 15, a company spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The Geneva-based firm will also “substantially reduce” the volume of refined products it buys from Rosneft.
Trafigura, along with rival Vitol, is a major lifter of Russian oil, mainly from Rosneft.
The company and other major trading firms previously said they would only fulfil existing contracts and not agree any new deals.
Under European Union financial sanctions against Russia, traders will no longer be able to buy oil from Rosneft after May 15 unless it is “strictly necessary” to secure the EU’s energy needs.
The European Union is considering several options to cut imports of Russian oil as part of possible further sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, but none has been formally proposed. These include payments into an escrow account, a price cap and tariffs.
About half of Russia’s 4.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports go to the EU.
Moving Russian oil has become increasingly toxic reputationally since the invasion and many western companies have been winding down their exposure.
Greenpeace activists have tried to stop several Russian oil deliveries and halted a transfer at sea involving a Trafigura cargo this month.
