Elena Buturlim10:49, 01/27/24
The Russian Federation is facing one of the most serious disruptions in oil exports in the last two years.
More than a dozen tankers loaded with 10 million barrels of Russian Sokol crude have been grounded off the coast of South Korea for weeks. The products cannot be sold due to US sanctions and payment problems, Reuters writes , citing data from two traders and shipping information.
We are talking about volumes equal to 1.3 million metric tons. They represent more than a month’s worth (in 45 days) of production from the Sakhalin-1 project, once the flagship enterprise of the American company Exxon Mobil, which withdrew from Russia after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Crude shipments for Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS) are delayed due to payment problems, forcing India’s largest refiner to use its reserves and buy more oil from the Middle East,” the publication said.
It is indicated that the company does not expect to receive any deliveries of Sokol in the near future due to disagreements regarding the currency in which payment will be made.
The agency points out that difficulties with the sale of oil of this grade are one of the most serious problems faced by Moscow after the imposition of Western sanctions, and one of the most serious interruptions in Russian oil exports over the past two years.
Sakhalin-1 was one of the first post-Soviet agreements in Russia concluded as part of production sharing agreements. When Exxon Mobil pulled out in 2022, production fell to almost zero and has not fully recovered since, the article says.
Last year, the United States imposed sanctions on several ships and companies involved in transporting Sokol oil.
Sanctions against the Russian Federation
UNIAN previously wrote that seaborne supplies of Russian oil fell to their lowest level in almost two months due to unfavorable weather conditions and a Ukrainian drone strike that briefly halted flows from a key export terminal in the Baltic Sea.
Thus, a new front has opened in Russia’s war against Ukraine, which emphasizes the vulnerability of oil exports from the western ports of the Russian Federation. We are talking about drone attacks on targets on the Baltic Sea coast.
(C)UNIAN 2024
“Thus, a new front has opened in Russia’s war against Ukraine, which emphasizes the vulnerability of oil exports from the western ports of the Russian Federation. We are talking about drone attacks on targets on the Baltic Sea coast.”
This is one reason why Putler would never invade the Baltics, especially now with Sweden and Finland joining. These Baltic oil terminals wouldn’t last 5 minutes. Without revenue from oil and gas, muscovy couldn’t wage war against Moldova.