China starts buying Russian oil, which India had previously refused

China's refineries have begun to take larger volumes of oil from Russia, which is largely avoided by their counterparts in India due to fears of sanctions.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine regarding Bloomberg.

This month, mostly private refiners produced an average of 168,000 barrels of Sokol per day, three times more than in January and significantly higher than the 53,000 barrels in 2023.

Meanwhile, oil flows to India this month totaled about 119,000 barrels per day after stopping in January and December, but lower than the 140,000 barrels last year.

China and India have become the largest consumers of Russian oil, including ESPO and Sokol since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The war triggered a series of US-led sanctions against Russia, as well as a price cap on oil supplies.

Initially, this led to Western buyers avoiding shipments, but since the end of last year, Indian refiners have also faced difficulties, including payment problems and disagreements over discounts.

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 22/02/2024