Reform UK mega-donor Christopher Harborne's aviation fuel firm AML Global supplies jet fuel to US military aircraft from refineries using Russian, Iranian, and Venezuelan crude oil, exploiting sanction loopholes and raising political and security concerns.

Christopher Harborne, a billionaire donor to Reform UK and Nigel Farage, owns AML Global, a jet fuel brokerage contracted to supply US military aircraft with jet fuel sourced from refineries that use crude oil from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. AML Global holds contracts worth up to £82 million with the US Defense Logistics Agency to refuel US military planes at commercial airports worldwide, including at least four refineries sourcing crude from sanctioned or hostile states. The largest refinery is Reliance Industries' Jamnagar complex in India, which imported over 53 million tonnes of Russian crude and 6.4 million tonnes of Venezuelan crude since early 2024. Other refineries supplying AML contracts are in Brunei, Ghana, and the Philippines and have similarly received Russian crude. US military aircraft have operated at the airports covered by these contracts since their inception. AML Global asserts compliance with all sanctions and has a policy since April 2024 not to facilitate fuel sourced directly from Russia, Iran or Venezuela, but this does not explicitly prohibit fuel refined from sanctioned crude in third countries due to loopholes in UK and international sanctions regimes. The revelations draw scrutiny on Reform UK’s donor funding, given Harborne’s substantial donations exceeding £20 million to the party and personal £5 million gift to Farage. Politicians and campaigners have raised concerns about conflicts of interest, political funding transparency, and potential indirect support to Russian military funding through fuel supply chains. The UK government delayed closing the sanction loophole on Russian-derived jet fuel due to geopolitical concerns involving the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.