'Secretive' UAE and Swiss-based firms found to be major crude suppliers to Israel, says report
Two little-known oil traders, Vitol and Heritage Petroleum FZCO, have emerged as two of the top suppliers of crude to Israel during its genocide in Gaza, according to a new report by Oil Change International (OCI) and the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO).
Together, the companies collectively exported approximately 22m barrels to Israel, representing 11 percent of the country’s total crude imports between October 2023 and June 2026, the report found.
Despite a Turkish embargo against Israel, the majority of the oil shipped by the two companies flows through the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Researchers also identified two subsidiaries of Heritage on the Turkish trade register.
While oil giants including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell have faced criticism over their role in supplying oil to Israel during its genocide in Gaza, the part played by a shady network of oil traders in the supply chain has received far less scrutiny.
OCI and SOMO’s research draws on data from the shipping platform Kpler of known “charterers”, which includes trade and shipping data.
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Swiss-based Vitol and Dubai-based Heritage have acted as both charterers and traders – meaning they also bought the oil they shipped.
Of the 250 shipments from 19 countries of over 200m barrels tracked by the researchers, Vitol and Heritage emerged as two of the largest charterers of crude to Israel.
A Vitol spokesperson told Middle East Eye that the company "operates its business in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations".
MEE contacted Heritage Petroleum for comment on the report's findings but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
A Turkish foreign ministry source told MEE in response to a request for comment that companies exporting oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Crude (BTC) Oil pipeline – which transports oil produced in the Caspian Sea region through Azerbaijan to the Turkish Port of Ceyhan – "strictly respect Türkiye’s decision to terminate trade relations with Israel".
'No vessel loading from Ceyhan is authorised or executed with Israel designated as the delivery destination'
– Turkish foreign ministry source
"Accordingly, no vessel loading from Ceyhan is authorised or executed with Israel designated as the delivery destination," the source said.
They added that "once tankers depart from the Ceyhan terminal, the ownership of the cargo may be transferred to third-party buyers, creating a possibility for subsequent changes to the final destination while in transit”.
The source further noted that the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) has a minority share in the BTC project company, and that BOTAŞ International AŞ, which is solely responsible for operating the Turkish section of the pipeline, "holds no commercial involvement or discretionary authority regarding the purchase or sale of the transported crude oil".
"Within this framework, TPAO holds a 6.53 percent stake in the BTC pipeline and a 5.73 percent share in the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG) production project. Any sale of TPAO-owned crude oil to Israel is entirely out of the question."
According to the data, Vitol’s shipments to Israel rocketed in 2023, while Heritage Petroleum, which was founded in 2023, only began shipping crude to the country in November 2024, over a year into the genocide.
The researchers said they relied on Kpler and London Stock Exchange Group data to track the loading of the vessels by the companies, while satellite imagery confirmed their docking in the Israeli port of Ashkelon.
The report emphasised that the companies’ role could extend further, as around half of the shipments they analysed for the report do not name a charter company.
Allegations of unethical behaviour
Founded in the Netherlands, Swiss firm Vitol is a leading oil trader, with offices in London, Geneva, Houston, Singapore, Rotterdam and Bahrain.
Between October 2023 and June 2026, it shipped almost 14m barrels of crude to Israel.
The report emphasised that the oil trader has a history of controversy and has faced allegations of unethical behaviour.
'Heritage has appeared out of nowhere to be a leading charterer of fuel to Israel, and its operations are very opaque'
– Andy Rowell, OCI
In 2007, the company pleaded guilty to grand larceny for paying $13m in kickbacks to Iraqi officials under Saddam Hussein to win oil supply contracts.
In 2026, the company secured the first US-authorised sale of Venezuelan crude, following the abduction of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.
In response to a request for comment by OCI and SOMO, Vitol denied it had profited from war and conflict in Venezuela, Ukraine, Iran or Iraq, and did not comment on its identification as a charterer of crude oil shipments to Israel.
Less is known about Heritage Petroleum, which was founded in December 2023. It chartered its first shipment to Israel in November 2024 and quickly emerged as Israel second-largest named crude oil charterer from July 2025 to June 2026.
“Heritage has appeared out of nowhere to be a leading charterer of fuel to Israel, and its operations are very opaque,” Andy Rowell, contributing editor at OCI, told MEE.
“We still do not know who the board of the company are or who the people with significant control are,” he said.
Despite Turkey imposing a trade embargo against Israel over its genocide in Gaza on 2 May 2024, all of Heritage’s chartered shipments – totalling 8.3m barrels – departed from Turkish ports.
Turkish subsidiaries
The researchers also identified two subsidiaries of Heritage listed in the Turkish trade registry: “shipping servicing companies” Shiptech Maritime Ltd.73 and Limosa Trading Logistics Inc.74.
Shiptech’s website contains scant information. According to SOMO’s strategic litigation lead, Lydia de Leeuw, Limosa’s website went offline after she approached it for comment.
“We followed up with phone calls but they did not pick up,” de Leeuw told MEE.
She did, however, get a response from Shiptech.
“They made very clear in their written response that they were responding on behalf of themselves and Heritage Petroleum, and claimed they were not violating the Turkish trade ban with Israel,” de Leeuw said.
When de Leeuw followed up with additional questions, and LSEG data and inspection data from State Port Control corroborating the shipping data, Shiptech declined to comment.
She managed to speak with Shiptech’s Turkish head of operations, who informed her that they would not respond to the second request, and stated that Shiptech and Heritage “are the same”.
MEE contacted Shiptech and Limosa for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The report highlighted that the findings raise questions around the efficacy of Turkey’s enforcement of its trade ban with Israel.
‘A real test’
The report states that, while crude and refined oil have legitimate civilian uses, the link between oil imports and the supply of fuel to Israel’s military is clear.
“What we do know is that Israel relies heavily on imported crude oil," Rowell told MEE.
"In 2024, for example, the country imported 97 percent of its crude oil. The imported oil is refined in Ashdod and Haifa and both refineries have been clear that they are supplying the military. Bazan Group, which owns the Haifa refinery, has been clear that it supplies the Israeli military.”
The role of countries in facilitating the continuing flow of fuel is also stark.
The report called on oil-producing countries, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Nigeria, to impose an embargo, and on Turkey to crack down on the companies facilitating the transit docking and services.
Meanwhile, it noted that the countries hosting oil traders, such as the UAE, where Heritage is headquartered, and the UK, where Vitol has one of its regional offices, “have multiple levers to curtail and prevent” the shipments.
Rowell noted that the revelations could have particular implications for the UK, in light of new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s pledges to reset relations with Israel.
“This will be a real test – Vitol has huge operations out of London; will the government take action against them?” Rowell said.
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