At least seven tankers carrying Russian oil have changed their destination mid-voyage from China to India after a surge in demand from major Indian refineries, according to reports.
Russian oil-laden tanker, the Aqua Titan, was one of the vessels which made a U-Turn in the South China Sea. The vessel, having originally signaled the Chinese port of Rizhao as its destination, is now being diverted to India and will arrive in Mangalore on March 21, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Not just the Aqua Titan, even crude oil tanker Suezmax Zouzou N. is signalling India’s Sikka as its next destination. This vessel, carrying Kazakh CPC Blend crude, will arrive on March 25. The vessel was originally headed to Rizhao in China before being diverted to India.
The move came after the US permitted buyers to take Russian oil cargoes already at sea in a bid to ease growing pressure on prices as the war in the Middle East continues. Following this, the price of Urals crude oil on the west coast of India reached $98.93 per barrel on Friday.
The report added that Indian refineries bought up as many as 30 million barrels of Russian oil in the week following the lifting of restrictions. This move was intended to help the country cope with the loss of supplies from the Middle East due to the war in Iran. Not just India, many Asian countries have expressed interest in buying Russian oil, including China.
Earlier, Chinese companies, taking advantage of the 30-day sanctions, suspended purchases following the imposition of US sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil. They can now take advantage of a 30-day US sanctions waiver (effective March 12), which applies to tankers already loaded.
Since then, more countries have been allowed to resume purchases from Russia. This paves the way for further redirection of supplies from China, which had been Moscow’s main customer in recent months after India reduced its purchases