CAPRICORN SUN

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First tanker to deliver oil from the USA in Rostock

As replacement deliveries are being sought to preserve the Schwedt refinery in Brandenburg after the stop of Russian oil imports, the focus is now also on the port of Rostock, where or the first time, a tanker has landed sour crude oil from the USA for the refinery Schwedt. The "Capricorn Sun" unloaded the oil on Aug 4, 2022, which is processed in Schwedt and was apparently supplied by Shell, which is the minority owner of the refinery. The ship sailed again on Aug 5 and was next bound to Gothenburg. The delivery is part of different types of oil from different regions, with which the refinery has been supplied since May. The refinery has mainly been fed with Russian pipeline oil, as it is majority owned by the state-owned company Rosneft. "Sour" oil has a higher sulfur content than so-called sweet oil and is usually more expensive due to additional processing steps. The sulfur content depends on the origin of the raw material. As part of the sanctions against Russia, Germany decided to stop importing Russian oil from 2023. The different types of oil are a kind of test run and are intended to show that Schwedt can not only process Russian oil. When Russian oil stops flowing, more than half of Schwedt is to be supplied via Rostock and a pipeline from there. Irrespective of this, the question of ownership at Schwedt must be clarified. As long as the refinery is in the hands of Rosneft, Poland does not want to be involved in supplying Schwedt.