Turkey is stopping oil not under Russian sanctions, raising global energy market supply concerns
Cargo ships and vessels transit the Bosphorus Strait, a body of water connecting the Black Sea to the Marmara and Mediterranean Seas through Istanbul, Turkey. Above, the Russia-flagged vessel Volga River Taganrog oil tanker passes south through the Bosphorus Straits in October 2022.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Tankers full of Kazakh oil are tangled in delays traveling through the Bosphorus Strait as a result of Turkey’s new proof of insurance measures for vessels carrying Russian oil now subject to EU sanctions and a G7 nation price cap.
Kazakh oil goes by pipeline through Russia and is loaded onto tankers at the port of Novorossiysk. Officials can track the origin of the oil on the bill of lading.
“It appears that all but one of the roughly twenty loaded crude tankers waiting to cross the straits are carrying Kazakh-origin oil,” a price cap official told CNBC. “These cargoes would not be subject to the price cap under any scenario, and there should be no change in the status of their insurance from Kazakh shipments in previous weeks or months,” said the official, who was granted anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the geopolitical issues.
Based on the number of vessels, over 20 million barrels of oil equaling $1.2 billion is stuck.
New Turkish insurance rules on oil tankers carrying Russian crude have slowed down the movement of tankers off the coast of Turkey and between Russia’s Black Sea ports and the Mediterranean since earlier this week when the price cap and sanctions first went into effect.
If delays mount, refiners will seek alternative supplies from other countries or they will reduce operating capacity because they don’t have enough oil, which impacts the supply of gasoline and diesel, said Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates.
“If this continues for another week we will begin to see an impact on the oil market,” Lipow said.
Buyers of Kazah oil include Asia, Europe, and some quantities on the U.S. East Coast.
Tanker wait times increasing
VesselsValue tells CNBC that the average wait for tankers at the Bosphorus has increased compared to last week by roughly 47%, when there were 14 vessels with an average wait duration of 64 hours and a combined tonnage capacity of 1.46 million tons.
Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that wait times are typical. “The waiting time in the Bosphorus and Dardanelles is six days for now. For the winter season, this is a normal wait; last year, the wait in the straits in December was about 14 days.”
MarineTraffic is monitoring the number of tankers waiting through the Bosphorus. The company, which uses AIS tracking of vessels, says the number of tankers waiting is now up to 40 and has more than doubled in recent days.
“We can see a growing list of crude and chemical tankers waiting to cross the Bosphorous from either side, with a variety of reported AIS destinations, including mainly Turkey and Russia, but also Ukraine, Georgia, Italy,” said Nikos Pothitakis, spokesperson for MarineTraffic. “The vessels in question are mainly flagged by the Russia, Greece, Liberia and Marshall Islands registries.”
On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo spoke with Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal to discuss the implementation of the price cap on Russian seaborne oil. Adeyemo stressed the price cap regime only applies to oil of Russian origin and does not necessitate additional checks on ships passing through Turkish territorial waters, according to a statement from Treasury. Both officials said a simple compliance regime by Turkey to permit seaborne oil to transit the Turkish straits would help keep the global energy markets well-supplied.
“The price cap policy does not require ships to seek unique insurance guarantees for each individual voyage, as required under Turkey’s rule,” said the price cap official to CNBC. “These disruptions are the result of Turkey’s rule, not the price cap policy.”
![This electric excavator has battery swap tech that lets it recharge in minutes [update]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/04/electric-excavator.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
The electric construction equipment experts at XCMG just released a new, 25 ton electric crawler excavator ahead of bauma 2025 – and they have their eye on the global urban construction, mine operations, and logistical material handling markets.
UPDATE: telematics announcement.
Powered by a high-capacity 400 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery capable of delivering up to 8 hours of continuous operation, the XE215EV electric excavator promises uninterrupted operation at a lower cost of ownership and with even less downtime than its diesel counterparts.
XCMG is delivering on part of that reduced downtime promise with the lower maintenance and easier repair needs of electric equipment, and delivering on the rest of it with lickety-quick DC fast charging that can recharge the machine’s massive battery in 1.5-2 hours … but that’s not the slick bit. The XCMG XE125EV can be powered up without leaving the job site thanks to its BYD battery swap technology.
We first covered XCMG and its battery swap technology back in January, and covered similar battery-swap tech being developed by MOOG Construction offshoot ZQUIP, as well – but while XCMG’s battery tech has been in production for several years, it’s still not widely known about in the West (even within the industry).
XCMG showed off its latest electric equipment at the December 2024 bauma China, including an updated version of its of its 85-ton autonomous electric mining truck that features a fully cab-less design – meaning there isn’t even a place for an operator to sit, let alone operate. And that’s too bad, because what operator wouldn’t want to experience an electric truck putting down 1070 hp more than 16,000 lb-ft of torque!?
Easy in, easy out
The best part? All of the company’s heavy equipment assets – from excavators to terminal tractors to dump trucks and wheel loaders – all use the same 400 kWh BYD battery packs, Milwaukee tool style. That means an equipment fleet can utilize x number of vehicles with a fraction of the total battery capacity and material needs of other asset brands. That’s not just a smart use of limited materials, it’s a smarter use of energy.
You can check out all the XE215EV’s specs at this tear sheet, and get an in-person look at the Chinese company’s latest electric excavator this week in Munich, Germany.
Telematics announcement at bauma
Earlier today, XCMG launched its next-generation Xrea Global Telematics Platform, integrating IoT, big data, cloud computing, and AI to enable what it’s caling, “seamless cross-border fleet management.”
The new telematics platform supports a dozen languages via PC and mobile interfaces, and offers real-time diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and data-driven optimization of both the vehicle and the vehicle’s batteries, empowering equipment managers and fleet operators to track fleets across town, or across time zones.
“XCMG remains committed to advancing engineering technology to empower a sustainable future. Our mission is to deliver efficient, intelligent, and eco-friendly lifecycle solutions for global clients,” said Mr. Yang Dongsheng, Chairman of XCMG Group and XCMG Machinery. “Today, 19% of our product portfolio comprises green innovations under our ‘Green Mountain’ new energy line, with full electrification across all series underway.”
SOURCE | IMAGES: XCMG; via PR Newswire.
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![A vast 600 MW Texas solar farm just hit a major milestone [update]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/01/Hornet-Solar-Texas-2.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Renewable developer Vesper Energy has cut the ribbon on Hornet Solar in Swisher County, Texas, one of the largest single-phase solar farms in the US.
As Electrek reported in January, the 600-megawatt (MW) Hornet Solar includes over 1.36 million modules covering more than 6 square miles. The project will contribute more than $100 million in new tax revenue to Swisher County and deliver 600 MWac of energy–enough to power 160,000 homes annually.
January 30, 2025: “The seamless coordination between our team and our EPC partner, Blattner, has enabled us to remain ahead of schedule and on budget while ensuring quality throughout the process,” said Juan Suarez, co-CEO of Irving-based Vesper Energy.
Hornet Solar uses bifacial solar panels mounted on a single-axis tracking system to maximize efficiency. The solar farm is connected to Oncor Electric’s transmission system within ERCOT and is contracted to provide power to four off-take partners through individual Virtual Power Purchase Agreements (VPPAs).
The Hornet Solar project in the Texas Panhandle is on track to be fully online by spring 2025.
Texas is a utility-scale solar leader in the US, with a ranking of No. 2 and 37,713 MW currently installed. It’s projected to install 51,144 MW over the next five years and move into the No. 1 spot, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). The total solar investment in the state is $45.2 billion.
On January 21, the SEIA, Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation (CTEI), Advanced Power Alliance (APA), and the Texas Solar + Storage Association (TSSA) reported that existing and expected utility-scale solar, wind, and battery storage projects will contribute over $20 billion in total tax revenue – and pay Texas landowners $29.5 billion – over the projects’ lifetimes.
Read more: Texas just became No 1 in the US for most utility-scale solar
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