Transportation of Russian oil to China has become five times more expensive due to sanctions
23.01.2025 - 13:17
The cost of transporting Russian oil to China has already increased fivefold due to US sanctions.
Thus, the cost of transporting crude oil from the port of Kozmino in the Far East to China has increased to $7 million, Bloomberg reports.
Last week, this amount was $5.5 million, and before the introduction of US sanctions – $1.5 million.
The trade in the Russian oil brand ESPO was affected by the fact that ports in China began to be more careful with servicing tankers subject to sanctions.
Earlier, USM reported that a tanker subject to sanctions was unloading oil at a Chinese port, which banned the entry of such vessels.
The oil tanker Mermar under the Panamanian flag docked on Wednesday, January 15, at the port of Longkou in the city of Yantai. The vessel was carrying 80 thousand tonnes (600,000 barrels) of Russian ESPO crude oil, loaded on January 6 from the port of Kozmino on Russia’s east coast.
According to traders, the sanctions provide a grace period that exempts vessels loaded before January 10 and discharged before March 12 from the restrictions, but some buyers have already suspended deliveries.
The Mermar was among three tankers that were unable to enter Chinese ports for several days due to US sanctions.
As a reminder, Chinese ports in Shandong province banned entry to tankers subject to US sanctions two weeks ago. Last year, the province imported about 1.74 million barrels of oil per day from Iran, Russia and Venezuela, accounting for about 17% of China’s imports.
