“Russia’s huge Arctic oil business has faced major disruptions due to US sanctions on tankers and storage facilities, halting the supply of crude that had previously been snapped up by Asian buyers in storage.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
Russia’s huge Arctic oil business has faced major disruptions due to US sanctions on tankers and storage facilities, halting the supply of crude that had previously been snapped up by Asian buyers in storage. Reuters writes about it. It is noted that all three Russian Arctic oil fields – Novy Port, ARKO and Varandei, with an output of about 300,000 barrels per day – are facing disruptions. The vessels and infrastructure needed for Russia’s Arctic oil business, which accounts for one-tenth of seaborne oil exports, are unique.Advertisement: U.S. sanctions currently include the Umba and Kola, and more than a dozen small tankers used as shuttles suppliers of oil from fields. At least 15 tankers hit by US sanctions on Friday, including the Sturman Shcherbinin, Mykhailo Ulyanov and Aulis, have been actively involved in transporting Russian Arctic varieties over the past two months. The smaller shuttle tankers were designed to operate in the northern seas and have a specific design that allows them to load more oil without compromising wake clearance.Advertisement: This could leave Russia with millions of barrels of unsold oil in storage. Limited storage capacity at all three projects means several weeks of loading disruptions could result in reduced production. At the same time, the publication adds that Lukoil, which produces at the Varandey field, was not included in the sanctions list. Since all oil from Arctic projects is intended for export, there is no logistics system to feed it into the domestic Russian pipeline system. This means that in the absence of buyers for these types of oil, volumes will have to be stored in floating storages. We will remind: the Office of the Control of Foreign Assets of the US Treasury Department introduced sanctions against the two largest oil companies of the Russian Federation, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, as well as ship insurance providers Ingosstrakh and Alfastrahovanie. According to the Financial Times, the measures include blacklisting 183 “shadow fleet” vessels involved in the export of energy resources from Russia. India is set to ditch oil tankers that have been sanctioned by the US for their role in transporting cargo for Russia, another example of the impact of Washington’s measures on the global oil market. Three tankers with more than 2 million barrels of Russian oil are floating in the waters off eastern China and cannot be shipped after the US imposed new sanctions on Russia’s largest oil companies on Friday, January 10. At least 65 oil tankers have anchored in various locations, including off the coasts of China and Russia, since the United States announced a new package of sanctions on January 10. Russian oil exports by sea may decline in the coming weeks after the US introduced measures against Russia’s two biggest exporters and about 160 shadow fleet tankers.