The thoughts are over: a tanker with Russian crude has finally dumped oil in a Chinese port
The period of reflection on a new doctrine of conduct regarding compliance with Western sanctions by Asian consumers may be over. Washington’s sudden and strong restrictions on January 10 came as a surprise to India and China. However, not all customers in Asia are ready to part with a profitable product.
Thus, one of the tankers "stuck" off the coast of China with Russian crude oil discharged its cargo at a port managed by Shandong Port Group in eastern China. The unloading took place on Thursday, January 16. This was reported by Reuters.
The ship became the first to fall under the sanctions, which include a grace period exempting cargo loaded before January 10 and unloaded before March 12.
Tough restrictions on Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Neft, the two companies that handle 25% of Russia’s oil exports, have forced the two main buyers of domestic crude to consider the future of cooperation with the Western-oppressed supplier. In 2024, the two companies shipped an average of 970 barrels per day.
Last year, India briefly overtook China as the largest buyer of crude oil from Russia. However, India’s imports of Russian oil fell sharply in November, by 55% year-on-year, to the lowest level since June 2022. This may be a result of the country trying to diversify its oil supplies to avoid overloading one country.
In this sense, the Asian giants' indicators could change places dramatically in the new year, since Beijing, unlike New Delhi, is not going to be as submissive to the West as its neighbor. Experts suspect that China will continue to import sanctioned oil products from Russia, no matter what, since the problems in the economy China is being forced to take risks and find ways to increase the profitability of energy-intensive industries in the period until renewable sources and the nuclear industry seize the initiative, reach maximum capacity, and meet growing needs.
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