Russia's crude oil exports from its western ports in February are set to fall by 8% versus January's plan as Moscow increases refining, two traders said and Reuters calculations showed, after the latest U.

Traders say for the time being the price cap imposed on products that trade at a premium to crude, principally diesel - which stands at $100 per barrel - still leaves room for a profit. Russian diesel currently trades at around $75 per barrel. They also note vessel availability is higher for fuel than for crude.

Millions of barrels of oil that would normally be preserve of oil refineries in Europe are instead heading to Asia as US sanctions on Russia revive one of the market’s great arbitrage trades.

The crude oil market is adapting quickly to the new sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet of tankers, albeit by creating both short- and medium-term winners and losers.

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,

The rush to buy replacement cargoes for sanctioned Russian oil has pushed Middle Eastern crude prices to an unusual premium to the global benchmark.

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,

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.

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.

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

In China, there are no buyers for March deliveries of oil from Russia after new American sanctions on Russia's "shadow fleet" led to increased tanker transport costs, which were not covered by these sanctions,