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Russian Oil Tankers Stranded at Sea as India Cuts Purchases from Sanctioned Suppliers
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Russian crude oil exports are increasingly stuck at sea as Moscow struggles to regain access to the Indian market, leaving dozens of tankers idling with no confirmed buyers, according to shipping data analyzed by Bloomberg on January 13.
The bottleneck has emerged as Indian refiners retreat from Russian barrels supplied by sanctioned companies, forcing cargoes to linger for weeks off Oman, in the Arabian Sea, and near China.
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At least 12 tankers loaded with Russia’s Urals crude are currently anchored off Oman’s southern coast, some since mid-December, while others are drifting near Chinese waters awaiting discharge. The problem is no longer loading oil onto ships but finding ports willing to accept it.
Russian seaborne crude shipments averaged 3.42 million barrels per day in the four weeks to January 11, down about 450,000 barrels per day from pre-Christmas levels, Bloomberg data shows.
India, which became Russia’s key oil buyer after Europe turned away following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, is now sharply reducing purchases from sanctioned producers such as Gazprom Neft and Lukoil.
As a result, nearly all crude shipments from Russia’s Arctic port of Murmansk are now heading to China, while Indian-bound flows fell to about 510,000 barrels per day in early January, down from nearly 800,000 barrels per day a week earlier.
The congestion has pushed the volume of Russian oil stranded at sea to record highs. Vessels are increasingly signaling interim destinations or no destination at all, delaying offloading while seeking buyers willing to navigate sanctions risks, according to Bloomberg.
More than 1.8 million barrels per day of Russian crude is currently on ships without a declared final port, exceeding the combined volume explicitly headed to China, India, or Turkey.
The slowdown comes as pressure on Russia’s oil trade intensifies. Falling prices, longer shipping routes, and tighter enforcement against sanctioned flows have driven export revenues to their lowest levels since the early months of the war.
Bloomberg data reports that, on a four-week average, the gross value of Russia’s seaborne crude exports slid to about $950 million per week by January 11, with Urals crude prices in the Baltic and Black Sea hovering in the mid-$30 range per barrel.
At the same time, Russia’s oil production is slipping. Output in December dropped by nearly 250,000 barrels per day below the country’s OPEC+ target, the sharpest decline in 18 months.
Russia had previously sharply reduced oil production after facing growing difficulties delivering crude to its key customers, India and China.
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