Russian crude flows set to rise despite low discounts, say officials

Russian crude may rise in India's oil mix amid Middle East tensions, but LNG from Qatar and UAE-under long-term contracts-remains hard to replace

The Iran-Israel war is likely to see a surge in India’s share of Russian crude in the coming months beyond the 10-month high seen in May. This comes even as discounts on Russian crude grades have shrunk to their lowest in two years, said officials.

 

However, they added that it will be difficult to replace liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows from Qatar and the UAE.

 

The threat of a choked Hormuz strait has pushed importers to contract more July-August cargoes from Russia even though tighter sanctions on the Russian fleet have pared discounts.

 

“We expect discounts to remain at low