Indian refiners are struggling to secure Russian oil supplies following the latest US sanctions aimed at Russian producers
Russian refining runs rose by 2 per cent, or by 108,000 barrels, to 754,800 metric tons a day on Jan 15-19 from the first week of the year, according to the sources
Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Kurenkov announced that the damaged tanker would be drained earlier this month but workers found it was continuing to leak oil into the water
India became the top buyer of Russian sea-borne oil sold at a discount after Western nations imposed sanctions on Moscow
BPCL's Russian oil processing declined to 31 per cent in December quarter from about 35-40 per cent in the previous month
Cargoes must be loaded before Jan 10 to evade sanction laws: Treasury Dept
Indian refiners have until Feb 27 to wind down transactions with sanctioned Russian tankers, opaque traders, a shadow fleet, and insurers, according to a US govt official
The official stressed that there are new sanctions on 15 companies related to Russia and China that have worked together to avoid existing sanctions
Refiners looking to strike arrangements with suppliers in next 2 months
The US' latest sanctions on Russian energy supply chains could hit India's oil and gas imports, even as the EU nations and other American allies may face little impact
Price caps on Russian seaborne crude as well as refined petroleum products were set by G7 countries to curb Moscow's revenues from oil trade
Analysts and energy traders said the sanctions will push China and India to source more crude from the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, boosting prices and shipping costs
Global Brent crude futures extended gains to climb above $81 a barrel on Monday, their highest since August, on expected disruption of Russian oil supply to China and India
India's slowing economy is most exposed to the latest bans because refiners must pay much more to purchase alternative crudes from West Asia in the short term
Two large producers and exporters have been brought into the sanctions net: Surgutneftegas and Gazprom Neft
The US has announced sanctions on two Indian firms for allegedly aiding Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, in violation of its energy curbs aimed at crippling Moscow's revenue streams amid the Ukraine war
A ministry statement also said that Russia would respond to Washington's "hostile" actions, announced on Friday, while drawing up its foreign policy strategy
The sources said they understand that the new US sanctions would target more than 180 tankers shipping Russian oil and Russia-based maritime insurance service providers Ingosstrakh Insurance Company
Thirty-two dolphins have died since fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, which separates the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia's southern Krasnodar region, an animal rescue group said Sunday. Russia's Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Center said the deaths are most likely related to the fuel oil spill. The centre said on the messaging app Telegram that a total of 61 dead cetaceans an order of aquatic mammals that includes whales and dolphins had been recorded since the emergency, but the condition of the bodies suggested that the 29 others had died before the spill. Judging by the condition of the bodies, most likely the majority of these cetaceans died in the first 10 days after the disaster. And now the sea continues to wash them up, the centre wrote, noting that most of the dead dolphins were from the endangered Azov species. Russia's Emergencies Ministry said on Sunday that over 96,000 tons of contaminated sand a
Under Russia's budget rule, the finance ministry sells foreign currency from its rainy day National Wealth Fund (NWF) to make up for any shortfall in revenue from oil and gas exports