Russia's oil exports remain strong, India and China top buyers in April: Report

Russia's oil trade with India and China is going strong amid the Ukraine war and economic sanctions by the West. 

India and China have bought the vast majority of Russian oil in April at prices above the price cap of $60 per barrel imposed by the West, a Reuters report said. 

The latest media reports suggest that Urals Oil -- a reference oil brand of Russia used for exports -- cargoes loaded in the first half of April were mostly heading to India's and China's ports.

According to a Reuters report, India accounted for more than 70 percent of the seaborne supplies of Urals Oil till mid-April, while China accounted for about 20 percent.

Media reports indicate that India and China -- both countries share strong bilateral relations with Russia -- have not agreed to abide by the price cap. However, the West had hoped that the threat of sanctions might deter traders from helping those countries buy oil above the price cap.

In December 2022, the group of seven (G7) nations and Australia agreed on a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil in a bid to cut Russia's oil revenues. But opponents of the price cap say that the measure is too soft to force Moscow to backtrack on its activities in Ukraine.

A G7 source told Reuters that the price cap would remain unchanged for now, despite pressure from some European Union countries, such as Poland, to lower the cap to increase pressure on Moscow.

"We recognize that as markets evolve there will be fluctuations of the discounts that Russia receives relative to global market prices. But the prices Russia receives for its oil remain well below those earned by other producers, which reflects the effects of the global sanctions regime," the official told Reuters on a condition of anonymity.  

Meanwhile, lower freight rates and smaller discounts for Urals Oil against global benchmarks nudged its daily price back above the price cap in early April. 

Russia has been under a series of economic sanctions since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The sanctions by the West aim to cut off Moscow from the global financial and trade system.