In response to Western sanctions, Moscow has redirected most of its seaborne crude to China, India and Turkey. It often relies on a “shadow fleet” of ageing, uninsured tankers to circumvent Western sanctions.
But tougher restrictions could hit Russian fuel exports harder this year. US President Donald Trump has made diversification away from Russian crude a condition of a trade deal with India.
The European Union is discussing a sweeping ban on any business that supports Russia’s seaborne crude exports, going far beyond previous sanctions. The bloc failed to pass those sanctions on Monday, as Hungary vetoed them owing to a dispute over a damaged Ukrainian oil pipeline.
Russia exports over one third of its oil in Western tankers with the help of Western shipping services. The planned EU ban would end that practice, which mostly supplies India and China, and render obsolete a price cap on Russian oil purchases that G7 countries have tried to enforce.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; additional reporting by Julia Payne; Editing by Nia Williams)