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.

Economic & Financial PressureSanctions Evasion & SmugglingSanctions busting networks

Aggressor

Summary

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.

Classification

Confidence: Medium

Aggressor true: the report describes sanctioned/hostile-state crude, especially Russian oil, entering jet-fuel supply chains through third-country refining loopholes, potentially sustaining Russian war financing. signal_type HYBRID_SIGNAL: the primary subject is sanctions-evasion and hostile-state economic influence risk, not a defensive programme or preparation measure.

Source URL

https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2026/07/01/christopher-harborne-jet-fuel-russian-iran-oil-reform-uk

Open source

Provenance

Publisher: extension
Submitted: Jul 2, 2026, 11:54 UTC
Last updated: Nov 4, 2026, 08:36 UTC
Event time: Jul 1, 2026, 00:00 UTC

Published as a hybrid-warfare signal with a public source and reviewer-approved assessment bands. See the methodology for how records are assessed.

Raw record

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  "url": "https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2026/07/01/christopher-harborne-jet-fuel-russian-iran-oil-reform-uk",
  "source": "extension",
  "status": "approved",
  "category": "Economic & Financial Pressure",
  "subcategory": "Sanctions Evasion & Smuggling",
  "incident_type": "Sanctions busting networks",
  "country": "India",
  "source_reliability": "C",
  "info_credibility": "3",
  "tags": [
    "Christopher Harborne",
    "Reform UK",
    "Nigel Farage",
    "AML Global",
    "Russian oil",
    "US military jet fuel",
    "sanctions loophole",
    "political donations",
    "sanctions compliance",
    "UK politics",
    "energy geopolitics"
  ],
  "nodes": [],
  "countries": [
    "India"
  ],
  "where_text": "Land",
  "headline": null,
  "description": "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.",
  "summary_short": "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.",
  "summary_extended": null,
  "actor_primary": "AML Global",
  "target_primary": null,
  "location_text": "Jamnagar refinery",
  "location_region": "Gujarat",
  "location_coordinates_lat": 22.4681,
  "location_coordinates_lon": 70.078,
  "location_precision": "Approximate",
  "is_aggressor_signal": true,
  "signal_type": "HYBRID_SIGNAL",
  "is_hybrid_war_signal": true,
  "classification_complete": true,
  "hybrid_signal_complete": true,
  "classification_confidence": "Medium",
  "classification_rationale": "Aggressor true: the report describes sanctioned/hostile-state crude, especially Russian oil, entering jet-fuel supply chains through third-country refining loopholes, potentially sustaining Russian war financing. signal_type HYBRID_SIGNAL: the primary subject is sanctions-evasion and hostile-state economic influence risk, not a defensive programme or preparation measure.",
  "event_time_utc": "2026-07-01T00:00:00.000Z",
  "end_time_utc": null,
  "event_time_confidence": "unknown",
  "created_at": "2026-07-02T11:54:00.540Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T08:36:03.522Z",
  "reliability_band": "strong",
  "location_precision_band": "approximate",
  "time_precision_band": "unknown",
  "severity_band": "moderate",
  "attribution_confidence_band": "high",
  "attribution_basis": "independent_sources"
}

Public assessmentReliability: StrongSeverity: ModerateAttribution: HighIndependence confirmedTime: UnknownLocation: Approximate

Source reliability

Info credibility

Event time

Jul 1, 2026, 00:00 UTC

Event time confidence

unknown

Location

Jamnagar refinery

Region

Gujarat

Primary actor

AML Global

Country

India

Countries

India

Tags

Christopher Harborne, Reform UK, Nigel Farage, AML Global, Russian oil, US military jet fuel, sanctions loophole, political donations, sanctions compliance, UK politics, energy geopolitics

Loading signal...

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