Russian oil exports will be seriously affected by the new US and British sanctions, as Beijing and Delhi are the main buyers of Russian oil.
New US sanctions against Russian oil will force Chinese and Indian oil refiners to look for other suppliers – from the Middle East, Africa and America. Reuters reported this on Sunday, January 12, citing traders and analysts.
Many of the sanctioned tankers were used by Russia to ship oil to India and China as Western sanctions and price caps imposed by the G7 nations in 2022 shifted Russian oil trade from Europe to Asia.
Some tankers also carry oil from Iran, which is also under sanctions.
According to agency sources, Russian oil exports will be seriously affected by the new sanctions, which will force independent Chinese refiners to further reduce their refining output.
Kpler lead cargo analyst Matt Wright said that among the ships sanctioned by the US, 143 were oil tankers, which last year loaded more than 530 million barrels of Russian crude oil, worth about about 42% of the country’s total seaborne oil exports.
Of this, about 300 million barrels went to China, while most of the rest went to India.
“These sanctions will significantly reduce the fleet of vessels available to ship crude oil from Russia in the short term, increasing freight rates,” Wright said.
A trader in Singapore said blacklisted tankers have been delivering around 900,000 barrels of Russian oil per day to China over the past 12 months.
It was noted that during the 11 months of last year, Russian oil imports to India increased by 4.5% compared to the same period in 2023 to 1.764 million barrels per day, or 36% of India’s total imports.
China’s volumes, including pipeline supplies, rose 2% to 2.159 million bpd, or 20% of total imports, over the same period.
Let’s recall that on January 10, the US authorities announced new large-scale sanctions against the Russian oil sector. The new restrictions cover more than 400 individuals and organizations in Russia’s energy sector that directly or indirectly fund the Kremlin’s war machine. On the same day, Great Britain joined the sanctions.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.