China and India stop trading in Russian oil because of US sanctions, Reuters reports
Pravda Ukraine
China and India have stopped trading in Russian oil as US sanctions have caused a sharp rise in tariffs for tanker freight.
Source: Reuters
Details: According to traders and shipping companies, the trade in Russian oil that was loaded in March has stopped in Asia as a large price gap between buyers and sellers has emerged in China. This happened after the cost of freight for tankers, which were not affected by US sanctions before, rose sharply.
On 10 January, the US imposed new sanctions on the Russian oil supply chain, which led to a sharp rise in tanker freight rates, whereas buyers and ports in China and India avoided sanctioned vessels.
Quote from Reuters: “Offers for March Russian ESPO Blend crude exported from the Pacific port of Kozmino jumped to premiums of $3-$5 a barrel to ICE Brent on a delivered ex-ship basis (DES) to China after freight rates for an Aframax tanker on the route surged by several million dollars, three traders familiar with the grade said.”
More details: Prior to the sanctions, constant winter demand and stronger prices for competing Iranian oil had pushed spot premiums for ESPO Blend to China to almost US$2 per barrel, the highest since Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, which had triggered discounts of up to US$6.
The CFO of India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd told Reuters last week that the company had not received any new offers for March deliveries, as was usual. The company expects that the number of cargoes offered for March will decrease compared to January and December.
Last year, India’s imports of Russian crude oil were 36%, while China accounted for almost a fifth of the imports.
According to analyst firm Kpler, the latest sanctions target tankers that carry about 42% of Russia’s seaborne oil exports, primarily to China, although sanctioned tankers are gradually unloading oil in China and India during the sanctions exemption period.
Indian oil secretary Pankaj Jain told reporters on 24 January that the United States had explained to India that tankers loaded with Russian oil must unload by 27 February in accordance with the sanctions. He added that payments for the oil on board the sanctioned vessels must be made by 12 March.
Background:
- Russian oil companies have suffered a new blow in the Indian market, which, after the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, has been significantly increasing its purchases of barrels from Russia and has become the second largest importer of barrels to Russia after China.
- The cost of transporting Russian ESPO oil to China has risen sharply, reaching almost five times the level before the latest US sanctions against Russia.
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