US Sanctions Bite With Russia’s Crude Exports Facing Delays Offloading
Only two of the nine post-sanctions Sakhalin cargoes have been discharged
Russia shipped 3.02 million barrels a day of crude in the four weeks to Feb. 2.
Photographer: Marcelo del Pozo/BloombergRussia’s crude exports have yet to be curtailed by the latest US sanctions to target its oil, with flows broadly stable. But while loading cargoes onto tankers is one thing, getting them off is another — and signs are emerging that the curbs are stalling the completion of shipments.
In the Pacific, only two of nine cargoes shipped from the Sakhalin Island oil and gas projects since the sanctions have discharged. Of the other seven, four are idling near the Russian port of Nakhodka, one has been between Japan and South Korea since Jan. 17 and another arrived Monday off its Chinese destination. The last has yet to reach a location where it too is likely to idle.