Update on Russia’s Sanctioned Oil Tankers: Bloomberg Tracks Shipments, Including Clandestine Transfers

     Bloomberg has been tracking oil shipments from Russia, including sanctioned oil delivered via sanctioned tankers. This behavior should be documented and should also be a case study of sanctions evasion. They report that clandestine cargo transfers utilizing:

“…specialized shuttle tankers and sanctioned ships are helping to maintain flows out of Russia’s ports in the Pacific and Arctic...”

     In January they reported that Russia was Shipping Arctic oil to India via sanctioned tankers, although India indicated it would stop at some point.

“India has indicated that it would only allow sanctioned tankers that loaded before Jan. 10 into its ports — provided they get there before Feb. 27. All five shipments collected their consignments after Jan. 10.”

They report that the sanctions that went into effect on January 10 are working, or at least slowing the movement of sanctioned oil.

“In a sign that sanctions are biting, the first ships to load at Murmansk after being blacklisted by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Jan. 10 should have arrived at their Indian destinations by now. But some have been diverted to China, while another has offloaded its barrels onto another ship. A third is idling at anchor far from its destination. The same is true in the Pacific.”

“In the Pacific, cargoes are being switched from shuttle takers to other vessels to maintain flows of crude from Russia’s two Sakhalin projects. But even after they have been transferred, Pacific cargoes are not proving easy to discharge.”

      Bloomberg is tracking weekly crude shipments, export value, and flows by destination as shown in the graphics below. One of the graphs shows pretty clearly that since 2022 exports to Europe have been basically fully replaced by exports to Asia, mainly India and China. It should be reiterated that India and China continue to be benefitting quite well from sanctions on Russian oil. Russia benefits too but must sell at a lower cost. India and China are basically getting a free ride to lower-cost oil. To a lesser extent, Turkiye has also taken on Russian oil that was once sold to Europe.

 

 

References:

 

Russia Set to Test New Delhi’s Nerve by Sending Sanctioned Oil and Tankers to India. Julian Lee. Bloomberg. January 28, 2025. Russia Set to Test New Delhi’s Nerve by Sending Sanctioned Oil and Tankers to India

Russia Steps Up Covert Cargo Transfers to Keep Its Oil Moving. Julian Lee. Bloomberg. February 25, 2025. Russia Steps Up Covert Cargo Transfers to Keep Its Oil Moving