Nearly 1 billion barrels of Russia's oil stuck in ocean — Bloomberg
Illustrative photo: Bloomberg calculated how much oil is drifting on tankers (GettyImages)
A record amount of oil has accumulated in tankers around the world — nearly 1 billion barrels. A significant portion of this comes from sanctioned countries, according to Bloomberg.
Since the end of August, floating oil stocks have grown by about 40%, and almost all of the increase comes from raw materials from Russia, Iran, Venezuela, or countries of uncertain origin.
According to analysts, Russian oil has been the main factor behind this growth. Traders believe that its future fate will determine the dynamics of oil prices in the coming months.
Bloomberg notes that the surplus of raw materials in tankers could hit the revenues of sanctioned countries and affect the global market, which is heading towards oversupply. Meanwhile, the overloaded tanker fleet is recording record costs of more than $100,000 per day per vessel.
According to the agency's calculations, in October, tax revenues from oil in Russia fell by more than 24% year-on-year. Despite this, the Kremlin's 2025 budget forecasts growth in revenues from energy exports over the next three years, hoping for a recovery in Urals oil prices.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia and the US have also increased oil volumes at sea, and it was recently announced that India and China have begun to reduce purchases of Russian fuel, excluding it from tenders since December.
Background
US imposed sanctions on the Russian oil industry. These sanctions are directed against Lukoil and Rosneft. Their introduction led to most Indian refineries refusing to buy Russian oil.
Moreover, US President Donald Trump confirmed that India had largely stopped buying oil from Russia.
Against this backdrop, the American leader also promised to lower the high tariffs imposed on India for purchasing Russian oil.
