Why Is The U.S. Importing So Much Russian Fuel Oil?

Russia exported 1.078 million tons of fuel oil to the United States last month, equal to more than 7 million barrels, Reuters has reported, citing data from traders and calculations from Refinitiv Eikon. The July total was a 16-percent increase on June as U.S. refiners had to replace lost barrels of Venezuelan heavy oil following U.S. sanctions on Caracas. Many refiners have had to resort to using fuel oil instead of heavy crude because of these sanctions as the by-product of oil refining can replace heavy crude in refineries that cannot operate…