U.S. sanctions delay operation of tankers with Russian oil near China - Bloomberg
Three tankers with Russian oil, totaling more than 2 million barrels, remain at anchor off China after the imposition of US sanctions.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to Bloomberg.
According to the publication, the Huihai Pacific tanker, which carries 770 thousand barrels of ESPO oil, was supposed to arrive at the port of Dongjiakou on January 15, but is currently at sea, having changed course.
Two more vessels, Mermar and Olia, carrying 755 thousand and 709 thousand barrels of oil accordingly, are also waiting near Chinese ports. These tankers left the Russian port of Kozmino in early January and were headed for Shandong ports, but stopped after the sanctions were imposed.
What was the background?
On January 10, new US sanctions were imposed targeting Russian oil exports to India and China.
Washington took action against vessels and traders associated with Russian exports of ESPO crude oil, which is in demand by Chinese independent refiners. The sanctions include a ban on access to ports for sanctioned vessels, which was supported by Shandong Port Group Co. which called for a halt to the acceptance of such tankers.
As a reminder, on January 14, the European Commission will begin consultations with EU countries on the 16th package of sanctions against Russia.
