Two tankers carrying Russian crude initially to East Asia have now diverted to India, Bloomberg has reported, as Asia grapples with an oil supply crunch amid the Strait of Hormuz traffic freeze.
The two vessels are carrying some 1.4 million barrels of Urals and are expected to arrive at their new destinations by the end of the week, the report said, citing ship-tracking data from Kpler and Vortexa. In fact, one of them, a Suezmax carrying 730,000 barrels of Urals, has already arrived at a port on India’s east coast. The other, an Aframax with a cargo of 700,000 barrels, is seen arriving at Vadinar, on India’s west coast, today.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg again reported that India was considering returning to buying Russian crude amassed in floating storage in Asia as the war in Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes in the region have severely disrupted oil flows from the Middle East.
The state-held refiners of India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, and Indian government officials met over the weekend to discuss emergency supply plans following the major escalation in the Middle East. These plans include a potential return of Indian refiners purchasing Russian oil, sources with knowledge of the discussions told Bloomberg.
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Indian refiners sharply reduced their intake of Russian oil following the imposition of sanctions by the United States on Russia’s two biggest exporters—Rosneft and Lukoil—last November. As a result, flows fell to 1.2 million barrels daily in December 2025. This was the lowest daily rate since 2022, with volumes falling further to barely over 1.1 million barrels daily in January. The rate remained flat in February, according to Vortexa, which noted that Indian refiners had diversified away from Russian crude with Middle Eastern grades—the ones currently paralysed by the Strait of Hormuz crisis.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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