Russia has shipped its first ever Urals crude oil cargo to Brunei as it seeks to diversify its list of buyers, which has been drastically limited by U.S. and EU sanctions, LSEG data showed and market sources said.

The Minerva Roxanne loaded 100,000 metric tons of Urals crude produced by Surgutneftegaz at Russia’s Ust-Luga port on September 26.

It delivered the cargo to Brunei’s Pulau Muara Besar refinery terminal, operated by Hengyi Industries Sendirian Berhad, on November 4, according to sources and shipping data.

Surgutneftegaz, Hengyi and Brunei’s Ministry of Energy did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

Russia has relied heavily on India and China as buyers of its crude after a European embargo and price cap policy were imposed in December last year after Russia’s action in Ukraine which Moscow calls a special military operation.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Reuters, Muyu Xu in Singapore; editing by Jason Neely)