India purchased 40% of seaborne Russian Urals oil in Nov, shows data

India bought about 40% of all Urals seaborne export volumes loading in November, outperforming other states as buyers, Reuters calculations based on Refinitiv and traders' data showed on Monday.

Russian Urals oil shipments to India accounted for about 40% of the total sea exports of Urals in November, not including the transit of oil from Kazakhstan, which is sold as KEBCO, Reuters calculations showed.

At the same time, shipments of the grade to Europe, which was previously the largest consumer of seaborne Urals, in November amounted to slightly less than a quarter. Almost the entire volume was delivered to refineries, in which Russian oil companies hold shares.

The total volume of shipments of Urals oil from the Russian ports in November amounted to 7.5 million tonnes, excluding the transit volumes of Kazakhstan.

On Dec. 5, the European Union imposes an embargo on the supply of seaborne shipments of Russian oil.

According to traders, the volume of supplies of Urals oil to Europe may be further reduced in December, since the embargo involves a ban on the supply of Russian oil even by Russian companies to their remaining refining assets in the EU.

EU discussions of a price cap for the Russian oil is also complicating trade for December volumes, traders said, raising uncertainty.

Turkey remains the main buyer of Urals in the Mediterranean, in November, deliveries to this country accounted for about 15% of all Urals sea exports, according to Reuters calculations.

In addition, several shipments of Urals are heading to Egypt's Port Said, where they are expected to be reloaded onto larger tankers for onward delivery to Asia, possibly China.

China accounted for less than 5% of Urals sea exports in November, according to the data, but traders expected some of the tankers to change their destinations to China later.

 

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by David Gregorio)