China and India have suspended March purchases of Russian oil as U.S. sanctions drive up shipping costs, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing traders and shipping data. The U.S. Treasury Department earlier this month targeted 183 vessels,

US sanctions on Russian oil exports are prompting Russia to redirect Aframax tankers from western ports to the Far East to service exports of ESPO crude to China.

In China, there is a lack of interest in March deliveries of oil from Russia following the imposition of new American sanctions on the Russian "shadow fleet", which have led to increased tanker transport costs not covered by these sanctions,

China’s imports of Russian crude have been more badly affected than India’s due to the uneven distribution of US sanctions. Matt Wright, principal freight analyst at Kpler, highlighted the differing impact of the latest blacklisting of 183 ships.

A tanker carrying Russian crude discharged at a port operated by Shandong Port Group in east China on Thursday.

The Group of Seven democracies have sought to crimp Russia’s oil export earnings that help fund the war against Ukraine

Russia is sending cargoes of sanctioned oil to India on tankers that have been blacklisted by the US Treasury — setting up an acid test of Moscow's ability to get around aggressive measures imposed by Washington earlier this month.

Russia has continued to send cargoes of crude oil to India on tankers that have been sanctioned by the US, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. This situation presents a crucial test of Moscow’s ability to circumvent the stringent sanctions implemented by Washington earlier this month.

Trade for March-loading Russian oil in top buyer Asia has stalled as a wide price gap between buyers and sellers emerged in China after costs for chartering tankers unaffected by U.S. sanctions jumped,

As reported by Reuters, these sanctions have already had tangible effects. The main recipients of Russian oil, China and India, have suspended purchases from Russia because the de