Top oil merchant Vitol to stop Russian crude trade

GENEVA: Vitol Group, the world’s top independent oil trader, intends to completely stop trading Russia-origin crude and products by the end of this year.

Volumes of Russian oil handled by Vitol “will diminish significantly in the second quarter as current term contractual obligations decline,” a Vitol spokesperson said by email. It intends to cease trading crude and products unless directed otherwise, and “we anticipate this will be completed by end of 2022.”