Sanctions have brought transparency to Russia oil export sales

Thanks to Bloomberg, Kepler and Reuters information agencies, its relatively easy to monitor the movement of Russian oil online. They also allow people to study weekly supply volumes by consumer countries and shipping destinations, as well as prices, discounts, refuseniks and new markets. The trade in Russian oil has never been so dynamic, transparent and interesting.
Only a few years ago, Gunvor, Trafigura, Vitol and Glencore were the primary buyers of Russian oil. These companies, with non-transparent revenue, cost structures and beneficiaries, purchased Russian oil at the ports and transported it around the World. The terms of payment, prices and further movement of the product to consumers were kept secret even from Russian oil workers. The trading companies concealed information, citing trade secrets. Special agencies, such as Plats and Argus, were created to try to monitor the movement and cost of the world’s raw materials. Oil traders provided the information in limited volume for the subsequent transfer, including to Russian oil workers and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.

Coming back to the new transparent world: Bloomberg and Reuters regularly create controversy to keep their news interesting. However the most important thing is to present the news accurately which is not always the case. For instance, the occurrence of emergency situations at four US refineries since the beginning of the year is not surprising, as it is a relatively common event. However, the news that revenue from Russian oil sales in February decreased by 0.95% compared to January is noteworthy. This information is available on the Bloomberg website. Meanwhile, the agency does not seem to be concerned about the fact that February had only 29 days compared to January’s 31 days (a difference of 7%). The significant decrease is primarily attributed to India, which imported 420,000 fewer barrels per day than the previous month.
Russia is India’s largest oil supplier, because Western countries have banned its importation. Lately, the US and its allies have been closely monitoring compliance with global energy sanctions against Russia. As a result, Indian refineries are now looking to purchase more oil from countries like Saudi Arabia.

However, it begs the question: does it matter if Indian refineries buy one million barrels of Russian oil per day or one and a half million? They are still potentially subject to secondary US sanctions. Indian refineries should not explain the volatility of Russian oil purchases by sanctions logic or monitoring of transactions by the States. The Russian-Indian trade in raw materials is pragmatic: Russia sells volumes that it cannot fit into other markets, and Indians try to buy them at the lowest possible price. The focus should be on maintaining the original meaning and quotes while improving clarity, conciseness, formality, precision, structure, professional vocabulary, and grammatical correctness.

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Sanctions have brought transparency to Russia oil export sales

Thanks to the Bloomberg, Kepler, and Reuters information agencies, its relatively easy to monitor the movement of Russian oil online. They also allow people…