Trafigura Up Oil Trades with Russia

Swiss commodities trader Trafigura said on Tuesday it had increased its exposure to Russia but that new trading activities were fully in line with U.S. and EU sanctions.

Reuters reported from trade sources last month that Trafigura had emerged as the leading trader of Russian oil, expanding its deal with Rosneft to export $500 million worth of crude in April.

"We have been in Russia historically. We have increased activity of late because, based on commercial business, we have seen a niche and obviously (operate) within the sanctions. We understand the sanctions and comply with them," Trafigura's CEO Jeremy Weir told an industry conference.

Kremlin-controlled Rosneft has sought closer ties with international traders and concluded several pre-payment deals due to limited access to the global financial markets because of the Western sanctions against Russian individuals and companies over Moscow's role in Ukrainian crisis.

Wier stressed that as far as he was aware there were no sanctions on oil trading in Russia.

He also confirmed the company had stopped dealing with Nigeria at the end of last year as it saw "better opportunities elsewhere".

Reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Silvia Antonioli