India Boosts Far East Russian Oil Imports as War Upends Trade Routes
India raised its purchases of Russia’s Far East crude blend ESPO in the first seven months of the year as China backed out of the spot market in the first months of the Iran war and deliveries to India from the Middle East slumped with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Total exports of the ESPO g
Source: OilPrice.com
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DW NOTE
India is taking Far East Russian crude while the Baltic and Black Sea routes stay cheaper. That's the reverse of what happened when Europe cut Russian imports in 2022 — then India bought discounted western pipeline oil. Now India is paying freight premiums to avoid a closed Strait of Hormuz, and Russian producers in Sakhalin have found a buyer of last resort.