Russian oil tankers stalled as U.S. sanctions bite

Reuters reports this. 

According to MarineTraffic and LSEG analysis, five tankers are stuck near Chinese ports, seven near Singapore, and others off Russia in the Baltic Sea and Far East. The sanctions, announced on Jan. 10, target Russian oil giants Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, as well as 183 vessels transporting Russian oil, cutting into Moscow’s revenue streams for its war in Ukraine.

The freeze on tanker movements compounds the impact of earlier sanctions. Analysts estimate that about 10% of the global oil tanker fleet is now under U.S. sanctions. The effect of these sanctions should support the tanker market as vessel supply shrinks, said the analysts.

Some ports, such as China’s Shandong, had already preemptively banned U.S.-sanctioned tankers, adding to disruptions. Meanwhile, charterers rushed to secure non-sanctioned vessels, tightening supply and driving supertanker daily earnings up 10% to around $26,000.

Increased demand for exports to India and China from outside Russia will increase non-sanctioned tanker demand, trade analytics platform Kpler noted.

With global oil trade under strain, the sanctions are reshaping shipping patterns while raising costs across the industry.