According to official statistics, Singapore exported an impressive 389,000 tons of diesel to Spain in the first four months of 2025. This amount already surpasses Singapore’s total diesel deliveries to Spain over the past nine years. Monthly imports rose from 33,000 tons in January to 141,000 tons in March, before slightly decreasing to 110,000 tons in April.
For comparison: In all of 2024, Singapore only exported 103,000 tons of diesel to Spain in three months, and in 2023, it was a mere 24,000 tons. Before 2015, virtually no quantities were imported. This sudden surge has allowed Singapore to surpass established partners such as France and the United States. Only Italy and the Netherlands currently rank ahead of this new, mysterious trading partner.
The Specter of Russian Origin
This striking development fuels the suspicion that the diesel supplied from Singapore may be of Russian origin. Industry experts have long warned that countries like Turkey, Morocco, and Singapore could be used as “leverage” areas to “smuggle” Russian refined products into Europe. Since the end of 2022, commercial trade in Russian oil and its derivatives has been banned due to European Union sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
As early as May 2023, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) documented that oil storage companies and traders operating in the Strait of Singapore reported an increase in fuel suppliers mixing and re-exporting Russian fuel. A year later, in May 2024, Reuters reported that Russian naphtha exports (fuel) to Singapore were on track to reach their highest level of the year as Russian refineries recovered from drone attacks. More recently, in May 2025, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) noted that “there were indications that the increase in Russian oil volumes from China was due to an increase in ship-to-ship transfers in the waters near Singapore and Malaysia to avoid detection by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control, dependent on the United States).”
Uncertain Future for Spain’s Diesel Imports
The current situation creates an opaque picture for the Spanish diesel market. While the sudden influx of diesel from Singapore secures supply in the short term, the long-term implications and the actual origin of the fuel remain a mystery. The European Union is committed to upholding sanctions against Russia and preventing circumvention of these measures. Developments in Singapore will therefore be closely monitored to identify and close any potential gaps in global supply chain oversight. Market uncertainty persists as long as the origin of this “refined crude oil” from Singapore is not unequivocally clarified.
