Tankers filled with dirty Russian oil are piling up around Asian ports ahead of fresh EU sanctions

• Tankers carrying Russian oil have settled at ports close to Malaysia and Singapore ahead of the subsequent spherical of EU sanctions. 
• Roughly 1.1 million tons of high-sulfur gas oil was sitting on vessels for the week ending October 24.
• New European Union sanctions will ban insurance coverage on tankers holding Russian oil beginning December 5. 

Tankers carrying Russian oil have settled at ports close to Malaysia and Singapore, as giant volumes of the Kremlin’s crude head to Asia ahead of the most recent slate of European Union sanctions. 

Data from Vortexa cited by Bloomberg confirmed roughly 1.1 million tons of high-sulfur gas oil was sitting on vessels for the week ending October 24. The quantity of crude is beneath earlier report highs however remains to be double the extent of the identical time final 12 months. 

About 65% of all Russian gas oil flows that have been headed for Singapore ended up in floating storage tankers around the Malaysian port of Tanjung Pelepas during the last three months, based on Vortexa.

High-sulfur oil is taken into account fairly dirty and is basically used to gas ships with pollution-reduction tools or in energy technology. Most tankers have moved away from counting on it because the broader trade carried out measures in 2020 to decrease emissions. 

But with new EU sanctions looming, Russia is more likely to lean tougher on Asia as an export market, analysts say. The subsequent spherical kicks in December 5 and features a ban on insurance coverage for tankers carrying Russian oil, even for locations exterior the EU. 

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Singapore is an important refueling and export hub for crude in addition to a leaping off level for ship-to-ship transfers. Traders have more and more employed the tactic since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine to cover Russian crude for export.