Indian ports are once again accepting tankers carrying Russian Urals oil due to the risk of supply disruptions from the Middle East. Two oil ships bound for East Asia have changed course to India.
This is evidenced by vessel monitoring data, Bloomberg reports.
The tankers are the Odune and Matari, which together are carrying about 1.4 million barrels of Russian oil. The first tanker, carrying about 730 000 barrels, has already arrived at the port of Paradip in eastern India. The second, carrying more than 700 000 barrels, is due to arrive at the port of Vadinar in the west of the country on Thursday, March 5.
Another tanker, the Indri, in the Arabian Sea, may also change course — it initially signaled a course for Singapore but this week turned sharply north toward India. The tanker is carrying about 730 000 barrels of Urals.
All three of these ships were subject to sanctions by the European Union and the United Kingdom last year.
What preceded
In recent weeks, Indian refiners have been cutting purchases of Russian oil, fearing it would complicate trade talks with the United States. This has forced Moscow to look more actively for buyers in China.
However, the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East since February 28 and the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have increased the risks of an oil shortage on the world market. And this seems to be forcing refiners in India to return to Russian barrels.
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow sea corridor between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Indian Ocean. About a fifth of the worldʼs oil exports pass through it — tens of millions of barrels a day. There is no formal blockade yet, but some shipping companies have already changed routes or suspended flights. Tanker operators do not want to expose their ships and crews to the risk of attack.
At the same time, due to the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East in early March, prices for oil, gas, and precious metals jumped.
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