Three tankers carrying Russian Sokol oil are anchored near Indian ports, indicating the resumption of crude oil trade despite tougher US sanctions. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.
Details
Indian refiners became the main buyers of Russian oil at discounted prices after the invasion of Ukraine, but have faced difficulties amid tightening sanctions since the end of last year.
According to ship tracking data compiled by the agency, the supertanker Nireta is anchored off Visakhapatnam on India's east coast, while two other tankers, the Vostochny Prospect and Erecter, are near Jamnagar in the west, both signaling their destination is Sikkim.
All of the Sokol cargoes loaded in March and most of the cargoes shipped in February were delivered to China, but some of these earlier shipments are now returning to India.
However, oil continues to flow to India through traders.
According to anonymous Indian refinery executives, the only thing that has changed is that Sokol is now supplied by traders rather than the manufacturer, and cargoes are offered at attractive discounts, which has led to the resumption of some flows to India,
At the same time, it remains unclear whether the trade problems have been resolved and whether all four tankers will unload oil in Indian ports this month.
Recall
Earlier, all Indian refineries refused to accept Russian oil transported by Sovcomflot tankers because of US sanctions against the Russian state-owned shipping company.