At least four tankers loaded with Russian oil are waiting off India’s west coast as purchases of these raw materials in Asia have come under scrutiny amid pressure from the US and the European Union.

At least four tankers loaded with Russian oil are waiting off India’s west coast as purchases of these raw materials in Asia have come under scrutiny amid pressure from the US and the European Union.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: The tanker Achilles and Elyte are currently anchored near Jamnagar, vessel tracking data shows. The ships were to unload at Sikka on 2 and 3 August after taking cargo from Primorsk and Ust-Luga at the end of June, where the main Russian oil variety Urals is usually loaded. Both tankers were sanctioned by the EU and the UK.

More than a third of India’s oil imports come from Russia, and the shipments have attracted attention in recent weeks, starting with a new series of EU sanctions in mid-July.

The Trump administration said this week that purchases of oil from Russia are grounds for imposing heavy import duties on India, and also threatened the country with new sanctions for the purchase of this oil.

New Delhi has already asked refineries to develop and share plans to find oil from other sources.

Achilles and Elyte, both Aframax-class tankers, have a payload capacity of about 700,000 barrels each. The port of Sikka is served by Reliance Industries Ltd. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd.

Reliance and BPCL did not respond to requests for comment.

Destan and Horae – two other Aframax-class tankers – are also waiting further offshore with Russian oil after picking up cargo between 24 June and 1 July, according to vessel tracking.

Destan, sanctioned by the EU and the UK, is expected in Sikka in the coming days. Horae, whose direction has not yet been determined, is not subject to EU, UK or US sanctions. The directions of both tankers may change.

Background:

India’s state-owned refineries stopped buying Russian oil as Moscow stopped providing discounts and the US threatened India with 100% tariffs on its goods.Donald Trump described Russia and India as “dead economies” and said the US has “done relatively little business” with the Asian country because the two sides have come to an impasse over the threat of a 25% tariff on Indian goods.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!

From Ukrainska Pravda via this RSS feed