While many analysts said that the latest EU sanctions against Russia would be moot without U.S. support, one Indian refiner partly owned by Russia’s oil giant Rosneft has been hit hard by the EU measures against Russian oil customers. 

India-based Nayara Energy, which owns the country’s third-largest refinery with a capacity of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) and which is 49% owned by Rosneft, has troubles selling the fuels it has produced. 

At least three tankers that have loaded fuel from Nayara Energy’s refinery have been anchored in various parts of the world waiting for buyers or for permission to discharge, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing trade sources and ship-tracking data. 

On July 18, the EU adopted the 18th sanctions package against Russia, targeting a hundred more ‘shadow fleet’ tankers, energy trade, and traders and banks enabling it.    

In a first move against customers of Russian oil, the EU expanded sanctions on entities doing business with Russian oil and sanctioned a major customer of the shadow fleet – the Nayara Energy refinery in India.

One tanker, the Alora, is loaded with jet fuel and has been anchored off a port in Portugal since its arrival on July 18, the day the EU announced the sanctions against Nayara, vessel-tracking data cited by Reuters showed.  

Although the fuel has been paid for, companies are steering clear of the cargo originating from an EU-sanctioned entity, according to anonymous sources who spoke to Reuters. 

Another tanker loaded with diesel from Nayara has turned away from Malaysia and is now anchored in the Straits of Malacca. A third vessel carrying jet fuel and chartered by Shell has been floating around the Gulf of Oman since arriving there last week. According to a Reuters source, the cargo hasn’t found a buyer yet.   

These are not the first instances of disruption for Nayara Energy in recent days. Several tankers chartered by major Western and Chinese oil firms, including BP and PetroChina, have left the Indian port of Vadinar without loading diesel at Nayara’s terminals, while some bookings for August-loading cargoes have also been canceled.    

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com 

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