Faced with the embargo on Russian oil, new alternative routes are emerging

Russia is one of the world's leading oil and gas producers.

Here, the logo of the Russian giant Gazprom on one of its gas stations in Moscow, April 16, 2021. AFP - KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV

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2 mins

Russia will lose by the end of the year its main buyer of oil for years.

The European Union has decided to reduce its purchases of crude and refined products from Moscow by 90% in reaction to the continuing invasion in Ukraine.

This embargo will inevitably cost Russia dearly, even if for months the country has managed to redirect its volumes to alternative buyers in an attempt to offset the shock.

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Even before this decision of the 27, many European buyers had already turned away from Russian oil, but Russia did not wait for the decision on

to try to find buyers elsewhere.

Outside the European Union, its first customer is China.

Last year, it bought 1.6 million barrels a day both via pipelines passing through their common border and by tanker.

From the start of the Russian invasion, independent refiners flocked to barrels sold 30% cheaper than the market by Russia.

Chinese state-owned companies have been more cautious as economic activity is still running at low speed.

In India, imports from Russia on the rise

Russia's oil sea routes lead to

, which also does not apply the sanctions.

This giant, which consumes 5 million barrels a day, has seen its imports from Russia explode since the start of the war.

At a discount of $35 to Brent, Russian crude would have no trouble finding buyers.

The International Energy Agency anticipates that the world's oil routes will be reshaped by the current crisis, but there is no indication that this will happen in the short term.

Russian infrastructures are not yet ready to completely rid themselves of European customers on whom Moscow has been so dependent for decades.

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