NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE/TOKYO: US and European pressure on Asian buyers of Russian energy could restrict India’s oil imports from December, leading to cheaper supplies for China, while Japan is unlikely to halt its Sakhalin liquefied natural gas shipments for now, trade sources and analysts said.
Washington is exerting pressure on China, India and Japan through trade talks to reduce their purchases of Russian oil and LNG, while Britain has just imposed sanctions on Chinese and Indian entities. More sanctions from the European Union could follow. Western nations say Moscow is using its energy revenues to fund the Ukraine war.
The moves come after Russia ramped up crude exports this month as Ukrainian drone attacks on its refineries have reduced oil processing. China and India’s seaborne imports of key Russian crude grades are expected to rebound to about 3.1 million barrels per day in October, the highest volume since June, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.
These imports are expected to remain high through November given the sharp rise in exports from Russia, Kpler’s senior oil analyst Muyu Xu said.
“However, the sudden UK sanctions on Chinese and Indian refineries — and the possibility of more measures from the EU or even the US — could prompt buyers to take a more cautious approach when placing new orders until further clarification emerges,” she added.
