Trading house Vitol has denied that it is selling fuel oil to Syria, a spokesperson said on Tuesday after Reuters reported that it had chartered a tanker to deliver fuel to run the country’s power stations.

The Theodorus IV was due to reach the port of Banias with a cargo of fuel oil on Sunday, according to shiptracking data.

Shipping sources said the vessel was carrying fuel oil and had been chartered by the Swiss-based trading house.

After initially offering no comment on the booking, a Vitol spokesman later said: ‘It is not our ship or our cargo’.

Supplying Syria with refined oil is legal as the European Union (EU) stopped short of banning deliveries for humanitarian reasons.

The fuel oil delivery follows a stream of heating oil shipments from rival trader AOT Trading AG, which has consistently provided Syria with crucial fuel supplies needed to keep homes warm this winter.

The shipments from AOT have come as a surprise to some of Europe’s largest trading houses that have abandoned trade with Syria due to complications over payment and worries about associating with its government.

Heating oil deliveries have also been steady from BB Energy, a trader active in the Mediterranean, and other smaller traders operating out of Cyprus and Lebanon, according to traders.