Russia’s oil supply takes seven times longer due to Western sanctions

Moscow MOSCOW. The delivery of a two million-barrel cargo of Russian oil to China took seven times longer than it did before a round of US sanctions imposed on Moscow in January. The delay in the delivery of Sokol crude from Russia’s Sakhalin 1 project to Chinese storage tanks shows how US sanctions are disrupting and hampering the flow of Russian oil — but not significantly stopping it. Vessel tracking data compiled by Bloomberg shows that so-called very large crude carriers are unloading their cargo at China’s Huangdao port more than seven weeks after loading oil on shuttle tankers. This usually takes about a week.

The Daban received its cargo through three ship-to-ship transfers from smaller vessels in the sheltered waters of Nakhodka Bay off Russia’s Pacific coast during the first 10 days of February.

Digital signals from the Daban show that after receiving the consignment, it was unable to dock at two other Chinese ports before heading to Huangdao. The market is closely tracking how Russian oil deliveries go since the sanctions imposed by the outgoing Biden administration were more aggressive than previously. Early indications are that exports are being maintained, but there have been disruptions and delays in some deliveries.