Most of this demand is expected to come from Asia. According to data from the Russian Tanker Tracking Group, India’s purchases of Russian oil have increased by more than 700 per cent in the past five weeks, compared to the previous five weeks since the start of the war in Ukraine.
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As shipments to Asia increase, Europe has shown a willingness to cut purchases of Russian crude, Reid L’Enson, Kepler’s senior commodity economist, said in an email.
He said it was important to track oil tankers floating in the sea to get a new picture for Russian oil exports. While it was not necessary to have some tankers with unknown destinations, “given the situation in Russia, it will be important to track these flows,” he said. “I will be very interested to see how much Asia fills the gap left by European buying,” he said.
Part of the West’s move away from Russian oil has come on the heels of mounting public pressure.
When the Minerva Virgo, a 50,000-ton Croatia-flagged tanker carrying Russian petrochemicals, docked in New York last week, environmental group Greenpeace protested in the port, with activists in rubber boats reading “oil fueled war”. caught the signs. ,
(Several days later, a small tanker carrying Russian chemicals also left for Winzerack, New York, which changed its destination to “drifting” a short distance from shore and did not dock.)
In the United Kingdom, dockworkers at Birkenhead Docks in north-west England earlier this month refused to land a German-flagged tanker. A local union leader told Sky News that workers “will not unload any Russian oil under any circumstances”. The United Kingdom has banned Russian tankers from British ports, but the order does not apply to ships from other countries carrying Russian oil.
In response to the attack, major oil companies have said they are withdrawing from their investments in Russia. Companies such as BP, Shell, TotalEnergies and Exxon Mobil have said they will not sign new oil contracts with Russia.
