Tanker owners in Europe are shipping as much Russian crude as possible before energy sanctions against Moscow take effect in December.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Western nations have pledged to wean themselves off crude from Moscow and looming sanctions have raised fears among European processors and shipowners of being blacklisted for handling the fuel.
Shipments to Asia, meanwhile, have soared. China nearly doubled its Russian crude intake to an average of 1.13 million barrels a day in June, from 670,000 barrels a day in February, according to energy data provider Vortexa. India brought in roughly one million barrels a day last month, from essentially zero in the first two months of this year.
