China pips India in buying sea-borne Russian crude

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NEW DELHI: India is no longer the largest buyer of seaborne Russian oil as it has been forced to reject certain cargoes due to sanctions, allowing China to lap up the commodity at deeply discounted prices...

China imported 1.82 million barrels a day (mb/d) of Russian crude by sea in March, a third more than India's 1.36 mb/d, according to energy cargo tracker Vortexa..

In March, the gap substantially widened.. "Russian Sokol cargoes, which were previously rejected by Indian refiners due to concerns of the cargoes being loaded on sanctioned vessels, were sold at heavy discounts to Chinese refiners, which explains the sharp rise in volumes into China," said Serena Huang, an analyst at Vortexa...

India's imports of Russian oil, however, increased 7% month-on-month in March, showing increased inclination to source discounted barrels at a time when the benchmark Brent has risen to $89 per barrel..

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