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Data shows that Tupras, a Turkish company, imports the first Brazilian crude cargo.

Data shows that Tupras, a Turkish company, imports the first Brazilian crude cargo.

According to ship tracking data and a source familiar with the matter, Turkey's biggest oil refiner Tupras will receive its first shipment of Itapu crude in early January.

Tupras said last month that it stopped buying Russian crude oil after the United States announced new restrictions on Russia's petroleum industry on January 10,

According to Kpler and LSEG tracking data, the cargo of Itapu crude oil, approximately 1 million barrels was loaded onto Joao Candido, a Suezmax tanker, on March 12.

The data shows that it is expected to arrive in Turkey's Izmit Port, where Tupras operates an oil refinery with a capacity of 225.800 barrels per day, on the 3-4 April.

Tupras didn't immediately respond to an inquiry about the purchase, received late on Friday in the Turkish working day.

The Kpler data, which dates back to 2013, shows that neither of Tupras’ two refineries in Izmit or Izmir has ever received Brazilian crude.

Itapu has an API gravity (density) of 29.3 and a 0.253% sulphur level, according to the data. Urals, a medium-sour crude, has an API gravity of 31.7, and is more sulphurous, at 1.7%. This is according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Kpler reports that Tupras became one of the largest importers of Russian crude oil since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022. It received around 305,000 barrels per day of this grade in 2024.

A Mediterranean crude trader stated that Itapu was similar in quality to other medium-sweet grades, like Nigeria's Forcados. (Reporting and editing by Barbara Lewis in London, Robert Harvey)

(source: Reuters)