This chapter explores the surge in Russian fuel exports to Libya, highlighting the country's role as the top exporter of refined petroleum products. It also delves into the investigation of fuel smuggling, the potential end of fuel subsidies, and the challenges involved in resolving the subsidy program.
In September 2022, a tanker called the Queen Majeda was stopped by authorities in Albanian waters, stuffed to the gills with $2 million worth of marine gas oil. The ship was coming from Libya’s port of Benghazi. And according to the Albanian authorities, the oil they were carrying was being smuggled out of the country illegally.
The Queen Majeda was just the tip of the iceberg of Libya’s $5 billion fuel-smuggling problem, Bloomberg’s senior global business reporter K. Oanh Ha discovered. She learned from the head of Libya's audit bureau that as much as 40% of the fuel imported to Libya under a subsidy program in 2022 was smuggled out. And by tracking shipping data, Ha found that a lot of the fuel exiting through illicit trade originally came from Russia. The fuel then made its way from Libya into European countries that have banned Russian fuel imports.
In today’s episode, Ha unravels the mystery of the Queen Majeda – and reveals how Russian fuel flows through Libya to dodge European sanctions.
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