Moroccan diesel record in Spain: deliveries collapse when Russia turns off the tap

Figures from the Spanish Corporation of Strategic Petroleum Product Reserves (Cores), revealed by Economía Digital, show that Spain received 247,000 tonnes of petroleum products from Morocco during the first seven months of 2026. Diesel accounted for 222,000 tonnes, or 90% of the total.

This volume already exceeds by 28% the 173,000 tonnes purchased throughout 2025. Spanish imports of Moroccan fuels also increased by 14.3% compared with the same period the previous year.

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Deliveries accelerated in the spring: 35,000 tonnes in March, 41,000 in April, 74,000 in May and 53,000 in June. The trend came to a sudden halt in July, with just 7,000 tonnes. In one month, arrivals therefore fell by nearly 87%.

This drop coincided with the restrictions imposed by Moscow on its fuel exports, following Ukrainian attacks on several Russian refineries. The simultaneity of the two events is fueling suspicions among Spanish industry professionals, without in itself constituting proof of the origin of the shipments.

Morocco buys Russian diesel on a massive scale

Morocco has no longer had an operational refinery since the shutdown of Samir and therefore imports all of its refined-fuel needs. In the first half of 2026, the kingdom purchased 4.34 million tonnes of diesel and gasoil, according to Vortexa data reported by OPIS, a Dow Jones subsidiary.

Russia was its leading supplier, with 1.35 million tonnes. Spain itself had delivered around 650,000 tonnes to Morocco during that period. The kingdom has emerged in recent months as an important destination for Russian diesel, even though this product has been banned in the European Union since February 2023.

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Spanish industry professionals suspect that some of the Russian fuel is unloaded or stored in Morocco, mixed with other shipments, and then re-exported with documents indicating a Moroccan origin. Customs statistics do identify the country from which the product is shipped, but they do not always make it possible to trace the origin of each component after several transfers and storage operations.

However, no public investigation has established that the 222,000 tonnes received by Spain in 2026 actually came from Russia. Spanish authorities have been examining these routes for several years, without so far demonstrating an organized triangulation scheme by Morocco.

Finally, the trade retains a paradoxical dimension: Spain sells around three million tonnes of fuel per year to the kingdom, while now purchasing record volumes of diesel from it. The drop recorded in July, precisely when Russian exports were slowing, further deepens the mystery surrounding these cross-border flows.