Almost five million barrels of Russia’s Sokol grade crude has failed to reach Indian refiners over the past four weeks, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

U.S. sanctions on tankers carrying Russian crude in breach of a price cap imposed by the Group of Seven (G7) nations might be part of the cause, the report said, without citing any sources.

Reuters reported in November that three oil tankers, at that time newly sanctioned by Washington, regularly shipped Russian Sokol crude to India, citing ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler.

India, the world’s third-biggest importer and consumer of oil, has boosted purchases of Russian oil sold at a discount after imports from Russia were shunned by some Western countries following its invasion of Ukraine last year.

Citing tanker tracking data, the Bloomberg report said the NS Century has remained south of Sri Lanka since the U.S. Tresury imposed sanctions on it, and it has been joined by two other Sovcomflot FLOT.MM tankers, also bound for India’s Vadinar port with Sokol crude.

Russian state-owned Sovcomflot (SCF) is subject to sanctions and other restrictions by the UK and the European Union, while Washington had restricted its financial activities.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Gnaneshwar Rajan in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)