Sanctions on Russian Oil Tankers Don't Impact Kazakhstan's KEBCO Brand

Sanctions against tankers transporting oil from Russia did not affect Kazakhstan's KEBCO brand oil, Orda.kz reports.

As Bloomberg writes, due to the restrictions that the Biden administration introduced shortly before the change of power in Washington, a significant portion of Russian oil is stuck at sea. 

India and China, formally friendly to Russia and are all BRICS members, have also closed their harbors to tankers with raw materials from Russia that have fallen under sanctions.

Previously, India accepted about 60% of Russian ARCO oil. Now, about 7.7 million barrels from Sakhalin are stuck in the ports of Southeast Asia. Sanctions have significantly complicated logistics and are forcing Russia to look for delivery workarounds.

The Biden administration imposed sanctions on tankers carrying Russian oil on January 10. The restrictions targeted 161 vessels. Bloomberg notes that Donald Trump may ease or lift these sanctions.

Despite fears that sanctions would "ricochet" on Kazakhstan's KEBCO brand oil and complicate its transportation, this did not happen. Raw materials from Kazakhstan are steadily shipped through Russian ports and reach their destinations without problems.

Bloomberg emphasizes that all calculations exclude cargoes labeled as Kazakhstan KEBCO crude. KazTransOil shipments transit through Russia via Novorossiysk or Ust-Luga ports and are not subject to EU sanctions or price caps.

Kazakhstan's barrels are mixed with Russian crude to create a single export stream. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Kazakhstan rebranded its cargoes specifically to distinguish them from those exported by Russian companies.

Earlier, we reported that a "Nursultan Nazarbayev" tanker fell under  US sanctions. Although the vessel bears the name of the first president of Kazakhstan, it has no relation to the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Original Auhtor: Nikita Drobny