U.S. authorities have stopped a tanker traveling from Russia to New Orleans to check if it is of Russian origin, a source confirmed to Reuters.
The Vitol-chartered vessel was shipping intermediate petroleum products, including vacuum gas oil and fuel oil, from the Russian port of Taman to New Orleans last week, according to a trade source and shipping data.
The United States has sanctioned Russian petroleum products following the country’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
“I can officially confirm that this shipment is not of Russian origin,” a Vitol spokesman told Reuters.
The products were to reach a Valero refinery in the New Orleans area, two sources said.
The cargo was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to confirm that the product on board was not of Russian origin, a source familiar with the matter says, adding that it was petroleum products Kazakhs.
CBP did not respond to a request for comment.
The story was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The United States introduced its embargo on Russian petroleum products in March just days after Moscow sent its troops to Ukraine, but does not include Kazakh petroleum products, which travel on Russian pipelines.
Vitol said it was complying with the sanctions and would not enter into any new Russian crude and products transactions and that it had stopped marketing crude oil and products of Russian origin unless otherwise specified.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Laura Sanicola Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
