Page 107 - RusRPTFeb24

Ukrainian attack on refinery. The weekly average of Russia's maritime transport of oil dropped by 340,000 barrels a day to a seven-week low of 3.06 million per day as of January 24.
Russian oil exports grew moderately in December—by 6.4% for crude oil and 7.7% for oil products vs. November. While shipments to China fell 15.4% and those to India remained stable, unknown destinations accounted for 1.0 mbd.
Half a dozen tankers carrying Russian crude oil that had been waiting for weeks to deliver their cargoes to Indian ports changed course in January and headed for China amid problems over payments. The ships are all carrying Russian Sokol grade crude produced in the country’s Far East Sakhalin-1 field and most of the vessels belong to Russian shipping company Sovcomflot. The ships were due to unload their cargoes in Vadinar and Paradip where IndianOIl has huge facilities. India’s imports of Russian crude slumped sharply in December to 1.48mn barrels per day (bpd), the lowest since January 2023, and far below the 2.15 bpd peak hit in May of last year as a result of the payments problem. At the peak, 45% of India’s oil imports came from Russia, up from virtually nothing before the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. India has been paying for Sokol grade crude in dirhams, the UAE currency, but suppliers are reportedly having difficulty opening accounts and accepting payment.
About 33 per cent of its imports reach the country via the Suez Canal and the Red Sea where Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are attacking shipping with missiles and drones. However, the Houthis are not attacking Russian vessels as Moscow is seen as an Iranian ally. About 25 per cent of India’s oil products exports reach Europe via the Red Sea
The data shows that widespread violations of the oil price sanctions continue. In October-December 2023, more than 98% of Russian seaborne crude oil exports were likely sold above $60/barrel. At the same time, close to one third of the total volume was shipped with the involvement of G7/EU service providers. This points to very low compliance with the price cap, likely via falsified pricing information (i.e., attestation fraud).
107 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com