Russian, Iranian and Venezuelan fuel oil is being disguised at a trading hub in the UAE, report says

• Fuel oil from Iran, Russia and Venezuela is being disguised in the UAE, the Wall Street Journal said.
• The supplies are being stored in the trading hub of Fujairah, oil traders told the Journal.

Fuel oil shipments originating from Iran, Russia and Venezuela are being disguised at a trading hub in the UAE, traders told the Wall Street Journal.

The supplies are being stored in the trading hub of Fujairah, according to the report. Fuel oil being offered matched Russian characteristics, such as sulfur content, but was labeled differently, a trader in Switzerland told the Journal.

While Iranian and Venezuelan oil have been subject to US sanctions, the disguised Russian supplies are the latest tactic for hiding its oil as global market participants look to avoid the reputational risks of doing business with Moscow since its invasion of Ukraine.

For example, the amount of Russian oil involved in "dark" ship-to-ship transfers has risen sharply in recent months.

Russian oil tankers have also disappeared from tracking systems near Portugal's Azores islands by turning off their location data.

Wary buyers have also attempted to avoid affiliation with the sanctioned nation through obfuscating the origins of crude and trading oil marked "destination unknown."

Russia is still overseeing a thriving oil export market despite Western sanctions and self-sanctioning. Meanwhile, countries including China, India and Turkey have upped their purchases of Russian crude, which became available at steep discounts.

India is now the biggest buyer of the Kremlin's crude and has helped Moscow navigate a more complex market since the invasion of Ukraine.