The facts behind claims a Norwegian fuel supplier stopped servicing US Navy ships
Following a contentious meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Feb. 28, 2025, during which Trump accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful enough for the U.S.'s financial support in Ukraine's war with Russia, claims (archived) circulated that a Norwegian marine fuel provider had stopped selling fuel to U.S. Navy vessels including warships and submarines in Norway.
The claim persisted (archived) on X (archived) for days and also appeared on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit (archived). Some posts claimed the Norwegian fuel supplier, which was unnamed in most examples, had already taken action and refused to sell fuel to American vessels, while others indicated that the company "said" it would.
According to Norwegian news reports, Haltbakk Bunkers, a Norwegian oil and shipping company, indeed posted on Facebook after the Zelenskyy-Trump meeting that it would no longer supply American forces in Norway. However, that post was later deleted for reasons that were unknown. We've reached out to the company to independently verify the Norwegian news outlets' reporting and are waiting for a response.
In other words, there was no primary evidence to confirm the alleged Facebook post by Haltbakk Bunkers, which said it had stopped providing fuel to American ships. Furthermore, it was unclear whether, or how many, ships were affected by the purported decision.
According to the Norwegian news reports, the Feb. 28 Facebook post read:
We have today been witnesses to the biggest s***show ever presented "live on tv" by the current American president and his vice president. Huge credit to the president of Ukraine restraining himself and keeping calm even though USA put on a backstabbing tv show. It made us sick. Short and sweet. As a result, we have decided to immediate STOP as fuel provider to American forces in Norway and their ships calling at Norwegian ports. "Noo Fuel to Americans!"
We encourage all Norwegians and Europeans to follow our example. SLAVA UKRAINA
The company's CEO, Gunnar Gran, also repeated that sentiment in interviews with Norwegian journalists.
In our request to Haltbakk Bunkers, we asked for the company to confirm the existence and wording of the alleged Facebook post, as well as say why it was deleted. We also reached out to the U.S. Department of Defense for comment and are waiting for a reply.
On March 2, Norway's Minister of Defense, Tore O. Sandvik, said Haltbakk Bunkers' decision not to service American forces was not part of a broader governmental decision and that the country's vessels would continue to receive the "supplies and support" they needed from Norway generally. Sandvik said:
We have seen Norwegian and international media reports that have created uncertainty about support for US naval vessels in Norway. This is not in line with the government's policy. I can confirm that all requested support has been provided. Norway and the US have a close and strong defense partnership, and US forces will continue to receive the supplies and support they need from Norway.
The Norwegian Ministry of Defense said via email on March 4 that, aside from that statement, it had no further comment.
Haltbakk Bunkers also stopped servicing Russian customers at the start of Ukraine war, according to Kystens Næringsliv, a Norwegian maritime news outlet.
The company has more than 2,200 Norwegian and international customers, according to its website.
In an interview with VG, a Norwegian tabloid newspaper, Gran said that stopping service to American forces in Norway likely wouldn't have large economic consequences, and that the company made the decision to show solidarity with Ukrainians. Gran said:
We follow our moral compass. We support the Ukrainians. We believe our support is disproportionate and do not expect anything from others. The US will be fine without us. We only show moral support. We have our convictions and we stand by them.
DeepL.com provided Norweigian-to-English translations of quotes from Gran and Sandvik in this article.
Bamforth, John. "TRUMP v ZELENSKYY ." Facebook, 2 Mar. 2025, https://www.facebook.com/JohnBamforth/posts/pfbid0XnZVmEd18R8Cr8vNa9qUd63fV3t1yjUETrG7WVrjopAWUWGwmW59Xncd34VTm2znl.
CUSTOMERS – Haltbakk Bunkers. https://haltbakkbunkers.no/en/customers/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
@FoonTsang. "MARCH 3, 2025." X, 4 Mar. 2025, https://x.com/FoonTsang/status/1896860861630918774.
Forsvarsdepartementet. "Uttalelse fra forsvarsminister Tore O. Sandvik om oppslag knyttet til støtte til amerikanske fartøyer." Regjeringen.no, 2 Mar. 2025, https://www.regjeringen.no/no/aktuelt/uttalelse-fra-forsvarsminister-tore-o.-sandvik-om-stotte-til-amerikanske-fartoyer/id3090130/.
georgetakei.bsky.social. "A Major Norwegian Fuel Company Is Refusing to Provide Fuel to U.S. Warships after the 'Shitshow' in the White House Yesterday over Ukraine." Bluesky, 1 Mar. 2025, https://bsky.app/profile/georgetakei.bsky.social/post/3ljduv4z2bc2y.
@liberalpropaganda. "A Norwegian Fuel Company Said They Will No Longer Supply Fuel to the US Military or American Ships Because of Ukraine." Threads, 2 Mar. 2025, https://www.threads.net/@liberalpropaganda/post/DGrWTs3MiGz.
LICON, ADRIANA GOMEZ. "What They Said: Trump, Zelenskyy and Vance's Heated Argument in the Oval Office." AP News, 28 Feb. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/trump-zelenskyy-vance-transcript-oval-office-80685f5727628c64065da81525f8f0cf.
Loe, Isak Løve Pilskog. "Norsk oljeselskap etter Trump-tirade: – Ingen drivstoff til amerikanere!" VG, 1 Mar. 2025, https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/bmJ4OB/norsk-oljeselskap-etter-trump-tirade-ingen-drivstoff-til-amerikanere.
Svendsen, Ketil. "Nekter å selge drivstoff til amerikanerne: – Vi har et moralsk kompass." kystens.no, 1 Mar. 2025, https://www.kystens.no/nyheter/nekter-a-selge-drivstoff-til-amerikanerne-vi-har-et-moralsk-kompass/2-1-1786648.
@TheCalvinCooli1. "🚨Just in: Norway Fuel Supplier Haltbakk Bunkers Has Stopped Refueling the U.S. Navy Ships and Has Urged Other Europe Countries to Follow Suit." X, 1 Mar. 2025, https://x.com/TheCalvinCooli1/status/1895927331832938828.
u/Listelmacher. "Norwegian Fuel Supplier Refuses U.S. Warships over Ukraine." Reddit, 1 Mar. 2025, https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/1j1bhre/norwegian_fuel_supplier_refuses_us_warships_over/.
@VipSaeid84420. "Norwegian Company Stood behind Zelnski; The US Was Boycotted." X, 4 Mar. 2025, https://x.com/VipSaeid84420/status/1896874126414889025.
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