Russian oil turned out to be of no use to anyone: the largest buyers turned away from Russia

Russia risks losing its two largest oil buyers, India and China. In 2024, these countries' oil imports accounted for 36% and 20% of Russia's oil imports, but after the US sanctions imposed on January 10, Chinese and Indian companies have virtually stopped buying new oil from Russia.

Reuters reports this, citing information from traders and data on ship movements. The drop in sales is explained by a shortage of tankers after new US measures blacklisted more than 180 vessels from the aggressor country's "shadow fleet" and increased the cost of freight for non-sanctioned vessels by several million dollars.

In this regard, it became economically unprofitable to buy Russian Far Eastern oil ESPO, which is exported from the Pacific port of Kozmino, as its price was $3-5 per barrel more expensive than the benchmark Brent. In addition, market participants will be in no hurry to enter into new deals, as not only tankers but also Gazprom Neft, Surgutneftegaz, and dozens of oil traders have been sanctioned.

Xu Muyu, a senior analyst at Kpler, predicts that China's imports of Russian Far Eastern oil will remain low in the coming weeks after falling last week to a six-month low of 717 thousand barrels per day. After the protracted transition period ends on February 27, the shortfall in Russian oil supplies to refineries in India could amount to 450-500 thousand barrels per day or more than a third of India's oil imports from Russia.

Representatives of the Indian oil and gas company Brant Petroleum reported that there are no new supply proposals for March. The company expects a reduction in cargo compared to December and January.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that banks in India, which ranks second in the world among importers of Russian oil, began to block payments to Russia – the state-owned State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank were the most cautious, but private banks are less strict. Problems with transactions began after sanctions were imposed on Russia's oil industry.

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