Russian oil sellers renew the fleet of shadow tankers

The average number of tankers sold to mystery buyers has been falling for four months. Russian oil traders are apparently forced to invest in their fleet due to increased security requirements in Asian ports.

This is evidenced by a Bloomberg investigation.

In December 2022, the Group of Seven, the EU, and Australia set a ceiling price for Russian oil at $60 per barrel. In addition, since February 5, 2023, Ukraine's allies have banned the maritime transport of Russian oil. In response, Russia began buying up older tankers to circumvent the sanctions.

As a result, not a single vessel has been cut up for scrap in seven months. This is a unique situation that has not happened since the 1970s.

In 2023, India, China, and Singapore increased the requirements for tankers entering their ports.

After that, the average age of vessels of this type sold to mystery buyers began to decline. While in February 2023 it was 18 years old, in June it reached 15.