India Purchases Fuel from South America Instead of Russian Oil, Bloomberg

India has significantly reduced its purchases of Russian oil due to increased Western restrictions and is now accepting new shipments from Guyana in South America. According to Bloomberg, two VLCC class tankers, the Cobalt Nova and Olympic Lion, have begun making deliveries from Guyana to India. Each tanker carries approximately 2 million barrels of oil, and they are expected to arrive in India by early January, traversing almost half the equator.

Sources indicate that Russia had offered discounted oil to India; however, New Delhi has preferred to diversify its imports in light of Western sanctions and complicated payment mechanisms.