For decades, a steady stream of ocean tankers has filed back and forth between a small cluster of ports in northwest Europe and the Baltic Sea. Typically, each would bring about 40 million liters of diesel to help keep Europe’s economy humming. Starting Sunday, that will be banned — along with almost any other deliveries of Russian fuels to the European Union.
While that had initially caused some alarm, the new rules are designed to be so inherently leaky that it will dull the pain for both sides. The biggest winners will very likely be traders and shipping companies as the fuel appears set to keep flowing, just via more complex, roundabout routes.
“The system will find its equilibrium sooner or later. At a cost for everybody, of course,” said Dario Scaffardi, who until last year ran one of Europe’s biggest oil refineries as chief executive of Italy’s Saras SpA. “I don’t think there’s going to be any big crisis.”
