2 weeks Ago By Tsvetana Paraskova
Russia is boosting its crude oil exports, with shipments to China and India rebounding as traders and buyers have reshuffled tanker supply chains following the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade and shadow tanker fleet from early this year.
The Biden Administration’s farewell sanctions on Russian oil trade from January 10 were the most aggressive yet. Many of the vessels, specialized tankers, and shuttle tankers transporting Russia’s oil from the Arctic and Far East Pacific fields and production clusters to Asia have now been sanctioned. Initial U.
S. Sanctions Shock To Russian Flows Crude oil loadings in February and early March reflected the initial shock to the oil trade flows from the sanctions. Buyers preferred to deal with non-sanctioned tankers and entities, which reduced Russia’s exports to its key markets – China and India – as the supply chain needed to adjust to the sanctions.
Chinese state firms halted or reduced purchases of Russian crude for February and March loadings as they were assessing the impact of the sanctions and the possibility of secondary sanctions. India was scrambling to procure crude on non-sanctioned tankers. The market soon found workarounds to beat the sanctions—China’s independent refiners in the Shandong province began taking in increased volumes of Russian crude delivered via ship-to-ship (STS) transfers from sanctioned tankers to smaller vessels offshore Singapore and Malaysia.
Moreover, the Trump Administration – unlike the Biden administration – appears to be much more lenient on Russian oil exports than on Iran’s. Related: Trump Eyes Sovereign Wealth Fund to Back U.S.
Mining President Donald Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran has seen the United States impose sanctions on Iran’s oil trade several times since the President took office. The U.S.
sanctions extended to target specific Chinese importers of Iranian crude oil. While the U.S.
is targeting the Iran-China oil trade, it is also trying to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. The U.S.
engagement with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has prompted hopes in Russia (and concerns among Western countries) that the U.S. sanctions on Russian oil could be eased in the near future.
Talks on a Russia-Ukraine agreement appear nowhere close to the finish line, and the U.S. has signaled that the Trump Administration could abandon efforts to broker a peace agreement if progress isn’t made very soon and unless clear signs emerge that a deal can be reached.
Yet, the sanctions enforcement of Russian oil exports appears limited, especially compared to the continual U.S. campaign to bring Iranian oil exports to zero while seeking to negotiate a new nuclear deal to ensure Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.
Russian Oil Flows Rebound Amid the geopolitical shift of the Trump Administration and the reshuffled tanker supply chain, Russian crude oil exports have jumped in the past month. In the week to April 20, Russia’s observed crude oil shipments averaged 3.35 million barrels per day (bpd), up by 220,000 bpd from the previous week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg .
The four-week average to April 20 has rebounded to 3.21 million bpd, up from 3.13 million bpd in the four weeks to April 13, per the data reported by Bloomberg’s Julian Lee.
The four-week average to April 20 showed that Russian shipments recovered about a quarter of the losses from the previous weeks, Bloomberg’s estimates showed. China and India Return to Strong Buying of Russian Crude Russian exports to China and India recovered in March from the lows seen in February. Chinese crude oil imports topped 12 million bpd in March, the highest volume since August 2023 , as flows of Iranian and Russian crude jumped last month.
Stranded Russian Arctic crude cargoes are now targeting Chinese teapot buyers via STS transfers using the dark fleet, while state giants such as Sinopec return to buying Russian crude after several weeks of pause to consider the potential implications of the U.S. sanctions.
In March, China’s seaborne crude imports from Russia surged by 42% month-on-month, reaching the highest volumes since October 2024, according to ship-tracking and customs data compiled and analyzed by Finland-based research group Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). India’s crude import volumes from Russia also soared in March, by 41% from February, to hit the highest level since July 2024. Russian crude accounted for 36% of India’s total crude imports, CREA’s analysis showed.
Going forward, crude loadings from Russia’s Western ports on the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea are set to rise by 5-10% on a daily basis in May compared to April, as domestic refinery runs are set to drop, industry and trade sources told Reuters this week. Despite the jump in Russia’s crude oil exports in recent weeks, the revenues for the Kremlin are not expected to rise proportionately due to the recent slide in oil prices. Russia’s Economy Ministry has lowered its forecast for oil prices this year in an update for its baseline scenario, reflecting the latest trends in global oil markets.
The lower price that Russian crude fetches could hit Russia’s economy , Russia’s Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina warned earlier this month. “If the escalation of the tariff wars continues, this usually leads to a decline in global trade and the global economy and, possibly, demand for our energy resources. Therefore, there are risks here,” Nabiullina was quoted as saying.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com.
