At least seven tankers carrying Russian oil, destined for China, have changed course midway and are now headed to India amid New Delhi's renewed push to secure its energy supplies amid disruption due to the Iran war, Bloomberg reported. The rerouting of these vessels, monitored by ship-tracking firm Vortexa Ltd, comes after India received a temporary waiver from the US to buy "sanctioned" Russian oil currently stranded at sea.
Among the seven, the Aqua Titan, a medium-sized crude oil tanker, is set to arrive at the New Mangalore port on Saturday (March 21). The tanker, which was loaded at a Baltic Sea port in late January, was originally bound for the Chinese port of Rizhao. However, it did a U-turn in mid-March, days after India got the US waiver.
Another tanker, the Suezmax Zouzou N, is also heading towards Sikka port in Gujarat's Jamnagar and is expected to arrive on March 25. It reversed its course in early March, Bloomberg reported.
The development comes as Indian refiners stepped up purchases of Russian oil after the US issued a 30-day waiver amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran amid the war. Iran has almost completely blocked ship movements through the Strait, through which 1/5th of the world's oil and gas passes.
India has already snapped up around 30 million barrels of Russian crude in just one week after it cut back on imports from Moscow earlier this year. In January, overall oil imports from Russia were down to 21% as India negotiated a trade deal with the US.
As India scaled back its purchases, China capitalised on deep discounts on Russian oil and increased its purchases. However, with the US now allowing more countries to purchase Russian oil, the competition is intensifying.
The arrival of Russian crude will undoubtedly come as a relief for India, which depends on imports for 90% of its energy needs.
The Strait of Hormuz is crucial for India as roughly 40-50% of its crude oil imports pass through it. Around half of the country's LNG imports and most of its LPG shipments also transit the key chokepoint, located between Iran and Oman.
With the war now in its third week, India has been dealing with a squeeze in LPG (cooking gas) supplies over the past few days. The shortage has also forced some restaurants to shut down in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
So far, three Indian-flagged tankers carrying crude oil and LPG have reached Indian ports after transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Around 20 ships are still waiting for clearance to pass through the channel.
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Earlier this week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India does not have a "blanket arrangement" with Iran for the transit of Indian-flagged ships.
The arrival of the seven tankers carrying Russian crude is expected to mitigate the short-term crisis of crude oil for India.
Source: India Today