More than 15 million barrels of Russian oil are floating within easy reach of India, offering the nation a quick fix to Middle East supply shortages after the US issued a temporary license allowing purchases.
The crude is sitting on more than a dozen tankers in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg. These cargoes — which appear to be unsold, or without a specific destination port — could reach India in a week or less.
Another eight vessels carrying roughly 7 million barrels of Russian Urals oil are idling off Singapore and could also reach India within a week. Beyond that, more cargoes are moving east through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez canal, and could potentially reach India in under a month.
The South Asian nation, which became a major importer of discounted Russian oil following the invasion of Ukraine, had sharply cut back on the purchases under US pressure. But the war in the Middle East has cut off its access to replacement supplies from Persian Gulf producers, prompting Washington to give it a one-month waiver to resume buying.
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