The fleet is wandering in the ocean. Russia's 12 million barrels are floating around aimlessly, looking for a buyer

More than a dozen tankers with Russian Urals crude oil are sailing towards East Asia, looking for buyers for this raw material after India's decision to withdraw from trade with Moscow, Bloomberg reported.

These ships, carrying a total of 10 to 12 million barrels of oil, circulate in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Malaysia, and also near China. According to data analytics firm Kpler, five of them are listed as “on order” or “China on order,” which typically means they do not yet have a specific buyer or discharge port.

Another six are headed to Singapore and Malaysia and are probably headed to the popular ship-to-ship transfer point of crude oil in the South China Sea – a practice aimed at concealing the source of the raw material. In early February, the Malaysian authorities detained two tankers near Penang, which were most likely pumping sanctioned oil. The value of this oil shipment was estimated at $129 million.

Urals crude oil – the flagship type of Russian crude oil, loaded from ports in the Baltic Sea – has become the type of raw material preferred by Indian refineries since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. The sanctioned Kremlin significantly overestimated the raw material at that time. However, pressure from Washington has resulted in a decline in India's import volumes, which averaged 1.2 million barrels per day in January, down from a peak of more than 2 million barrels per day in mid-2024.

India's oil imports may be further restricted after US President Donald Trump announced last Monday, February 2, that the country would stop buying Russian oil as part of an agreement to reduce trade tariffs. These reports were confirmed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (PAP)

tebe/ rtt/