A new situation is emerging in the global energy market. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
India has significantly reduced its volume of Russian oil purchases, a gap that China is quickly filling. According to Bloomberg market data, India decreased its demand for Russian oil due to additional tariffs imposed by the United States.
At the same time, refineries in Beijing are actively purchasing the oil rejected by India. As a result, the direction of oil flows in Asia has changed significantly, allowing Chinese companies to acquire more Urals oil coming from Russia’s western regions.
Previously, China mainly imported oil from Russia’s Far East region, but starting from August, deliveries of Urals oil via the Baltic and Black Sea reached 75 thousand barrels per day. This is almost double the average of 40 thousand barrels recorded earlier this year.
Meanwhile, India’s oil imports sharply declined to 400 thousand barrels. In July, this volume was 1.18 million barrels.
Experts see the main reason for these changes in the US trade policy. At the beginning of August, Washington doubled the tariff rates on India, forcing India to stop purchasing Russian oil.
However, such restrictions were not applied to China, as complex trade agreements were maintained. As a result, Chinese companies were able to freely purchase volumes that India could not acquire.
According to experts, this situation is favorable for refineries in China, and they may continue buying Russian oil for a long time. Urals oil is considered competitive compared to Middle Eastern oil.
The main reasons are Russia’s large discounts and cheap logistics options. Currently, it is known that Chinese companies have already pre-booked 10-15 Urals oil shipments scheduled for October and November.
Off the Zhoushan coast, two large tankers filled with 2 million barrels of oil are anchored. Market demand is high, and Urals oil is selling for about one dollar more than Brent crude.
This indicates strong interest from buyers. However, activity at refineries in India remains low.
While some are considering offers, most are seriously concerned under US pressure. Experts warn that if China also starts reducing its purchase volumes in the future, it will be difficult to find new buyers for Russian oil, and Moscow will be forced to lower prices further.
