©Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An oil tanker is seen docked at Ingleside near Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S., May 14, 2023. REUTERS/Arathy Somasekhar/File Photo
By Arathy Somasekhar
HOUSTON (Reuters) – More than 250,000 barrels a day are expected to arrive in India next month, the highest figure in more than a year, ship tracking data shows, amid tougher enforcement of sanctions on Russian crude.
India, the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer, is seeking to diversify its oil supplies as new US sanctions on Moscow threaten to dent Russian oil sales to India, the largest buyer of transported Russian crude by sea.
According to ship tracking firm Kpler, around 7.6 million barrels of oil, or 256,000 barrels per day (bpd), were headed to India on three very large crude carriers and three Suezmax vessels.
According to data from financial firm LSEG, the ships, which were largely headed to India’s west coast, were chartered by Reliance Industries, Vitol, Equinor and Sinokor, among others.
India was the largest buyer of Russian oil last year, after other groups pulled back from purchases following Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Last month, the United States stepped up efforts to curtail Russian oil trade by adding sanctions on state shipping company Sovcomflot and 14 crude oil tankers involved in transporting Russian oil.
India’s Reliance, operator of the world’s largest refining complex, will not buy Russian oil loaded on tankers operated by Sovcomflot following recent U.S. sanctions, sources told Reuters last week.
More Indian refiners plan to avoid Sovcomflot vessels, which could weigh on Russian oil imports and leave Russia with fewer outlets for its flagship product, the sources said.