Who is supplying Israel with the oil it needs?
It’s no surprise that USA and Russia are supplying oil to Israel to fight its war. Nor that that some major international oil companies are keen to profit. But it seems odd that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Egypt are involved.
You can’t wage a war, never mind win one, without a steady stream to petroleum products for your planes and land vehicles. So, who has been supplying Israel with the fuel it needs over the last few months?
- Israel has received three tankers of JP8 Jet Fuel since the war started as part of U.S. military aid for Israel. One shipment left the United States before the war started, while two have been sent since.
- Israel receives relatively small but regular shipments of crude from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq and Egypt via the Sumed pipeline. All these countries have condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza.
- Other countries with more friendly relations with Israel supply the majority of crude oil delivered since the war began. Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan send oil through pipelines owned or operated by major international oil companies, including BP, Chevron, Exxon and Shell. Gabon is also a major source of crude oil for Israel.
- Russia continues to supply a steady stream of vacuum gas oil (VGO) for one of the refineries in Haifa to upgrade into gasoline and diesel.
- Two shipments of Brazilian crude oil totalling 260,000 tons have been delivered to Israel since December 2023. This was supplied from offshore fields co-owned by Shell and TotalEnergies together with Brazil’s Petrobras.
No surprise that USA has been a significant supplier, nor that companies such as BP, Chevron, Exxon, Shell and Total have been very happy to turn a profit from the suffering of Palestinians.
But Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq and Egypt?
There doesn’t seem to be much solidarity with Palestinians in evidence there.
For more details, see the fact sheet and press release from Oil Change International.