Crude oil imports from Russia may bounce back in January

India’s import of Sokol crude from Russia, which ran into problems owing to Western sanctions and payment issues between Indian Oil and Russia’s Sakhalin-1 LLC last month, is likely to be resolved soon, letting the country’s import share from Russia bounce back to its earlier levels.

“Looking into January-February 2024, India’s imports will most probably recover from the trough of December and move back to 1.4-1.5 Mbd (million barrel a day),” said Viktor Katona, lead crude analysts at Kpler. “The Sokol cargoes weren’t re-routed because Indian refiners didn’t want them, rather because they couldn’t find a suitable solution to pay for them,” he said, while adding that the roadblock is expected to be cleared shortly and Sokol will be flowing to India again.