India Races to Secure Tankers as U.S. Sanctions Cut Russian Oil Supply
Sanctions trigger massive ship scramble to replace 1M+ barrels daily.
India’s petroleum sector has been thrust into crisis mode as the country’s largest refiners launched one of the most aggressive tanker-chartering campaigns in recent history, securing more than a dozen supertankers within days to evacuate record volumes of Middle Eastern crude ahead of crippling U.S. sanctions that will erase over one million barrels per day of Russian supply starting November 21.
Shipping brokers in Singapore and London report an unprecedented surge in fixture activity, with at least twelve VLCCs and several Suezmax vessels fixed since the weekend for December and January loadings from Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura and Yanbu, Iraq’s Basra terminals, Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi, and the UAE’s Jebel Dhanna and Ruwais ports, a threefold increase over the previous month’s pace and the highest monthly total for non-Russian origins in over two years.
The sanctions package, targeting Rosneft PJSC, Lukoil PJSC, Gazprom Neft, and dozens of affiliated shipping entities, will immediately halt deliveries to five of India’s seven major refineries, including Reliance Industries’ twin Jamnagar complexes, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Nayara Energy, forcing an abrupt end to the discounted Russian barrels that accounted for nearly 40 percent of total crude imports at their peak.
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Freight rates for the Arabian Gulf-to-India route have exploded to levels last seen during the 2020 OPEC price war, with daily hire costs for modern VLCCs now exceeding $75,000 and brokers warning of further spikes as Indian buyers compete with Chinese and European charterers for the dwindling pool of available tonnage amid peak winter demand.
Refiners have responded by locking in additional term volumes with Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organisation while simultaneously issuing urgent spot tenders for December and January arrival parcels, confirming that the strategic pivot away from Russia is now permanent and will reshape global oil trade flows for years to come.
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