The crude oil market is adapting quickly to the new sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet of tankers, albeit by creating both short- and medium-term winners and losers.

In China, newly sanctioned tankers face delays offloading oil despite meeting waiver requirements. Three of them discharged Russian ESPO and Sokol crude during Jan. 15-17 while tanker Olia offloaded at Shandong's Yantai port on Sunday after carrying its ESPO cargo for nearly three weeks, according to LSEG data.

A widely reported sale-and-purchase deal for a pair of aframax crude carriers under opaque ownership has sparked market talk about Russian-related interests possibly re-entering the market to replenish the country’s shadow fleet.

Freight rates for Russian ESPO Blend oil loading from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino have jumped fivefold amid a lack of vessels after fresh U.S. sanctions cut availability of tankers, three traders said and data showed.

Russia has continued to send cargoes of crude oil to India on tankers that have been sanctioned by the US, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. This situation presents a crucial test of Moscow’s ability to circumvent the stringent sanctions implemented by Washington earlier this month.

China and India have stopped trading in Russian oil as US sanctions have caused a sharp rise in tariffs for tanker freight. Source: Reuters Details: According to traders and shipping companies, the trade in Russian oil that was loaded in March has stopped in Asia as a large price gap between buyers and sellers has emerged in China.