Officially, China has not bought oil from Iran for more than two years. However, complex schemes using a "shadow fleet" allow it to bypass international restrictions and supply millions of barrels of oil to China every year. What risks does this create for the market and how does it affect Russia? Find out in our analysis. Chinese Purchases of Iranian Oil: ...

... the 18th EU sanctions package against Russia is indeed significant in scale for the FEC, but its effectiveness will be limited by several factors. Dmitry Kasatkin, managing partner of Kasatkin Consulting, stated that sanctions on 105 tankers from the shadow fleet are a continuation of previous restrictions (189 tankers in the 17th package). "The aim is to complicate the logistics of Russian oil supplies circumventing the price ceiling. However, the real effectiveness depends not on the number of vessels ...

... back channels," the release states. It also mentions that comprehensive sanctions, including asset freezes, travel bans, and resource provision prohibitions, will be applied to Russian and international companies managing the vessels of the “shadow fleet,” traders dealing in Russian oil, and an oil refinery in India, whose main shareholder is Rosneft. This pertains to the Vadinar Refinery, with a processing capacity of 20 million tons per year, which is part of Nayara Energy Limited, where Rosneft ...

... Reuters claims that India had to increase its imports from the U.S. due to a decrease in purchases from Russia. Allegedly, India started to turn away from Russian oil to avoid U.S. sanctions, which at the beginning of the year included a new batch of shadow fleet vessels in the sanctions list. Bloomberg also wrote off Russian oil, stating that by February 2025, India had brought its purchases of Russian oil to the lowest level since January 2023, indicating the "effectiveness of American sanctions aimed ...

... above $60 per barrel, influenced by global benchmarks and the discount for Russian oil. This discount, which peaked at $34 per barrel in March 2022, is currently estimated at $10–13 per barrel. Attempts by the U.S. to restrict Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers were somewhat effective, but Russia adapted quickly by changing ship owners and flags. Konstantin Simonov, head of the National Energy Security Fund, acknowledges that costs for Russian companies have risen, but the market has ...