Bloomberg reports that Gatik Ship Management, a secretive Indian company known for its involvement in transporting Russian oil, has abruptly and mysteriously vanished.
Previously, the Mumbai-based company had acquired 60 oil carriers for this purpose, but its fleet has now been reduced to just four ships. This occurrence comes as companies engaged in trading Russian commodities face growing scrutiny.
According to a report titled “Laundromat: How the price cap coalition whitewashes Russian oil in third countries” by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in May, western countries purchased approximately $42 billion worth of laundered Russian crude in the form of various oil products from nations friendly towards Russia in 2022. India emerged as the largest buyer and seller of Russian oil.
Notably, India’s diesel exports surged to around 1,600,000 barrels per day in March 2023, tripling from the previous year, thereby becoming a significant component in India-EU trade.
In March, Bloomberg highlighted the rise of six relatively unknown companies based in Hong Kong and Dubai that have taken over the Russian oil trade. These companies have emerged as dominant players, overshadowing traditional industry leaders such as Vitol, Glencore, Gunvor, and Trafigura.
Bloomberg reports that based on Russian customs data, a consortium comprising Nord Axis Ltd, Tejarinaft FZCO, QR Trading DMCC, Concept Oil Services Ltd, Bellatrix Energy Ltd, and Coral Energy DMCC collectively managed approximately 1.4 million barrels per day of Russian crude oil.
This volume surpasses what the major commodity giants traditionally handled before the conflict in Ukraine, and it is sufficient to meet the entire oil requirements of countries like the UK and Italy.
Nord Axis, a relatively new company incorporated in Hong Kong just a year ago, surprisingly emerged as the largest buyer, procuring 521,000 barrels of Russian crude oil per day. This company gained recognition in the oil market after acquiring Trafigura’s stake in Rosneft’s flagship oil project, Vostok Oil, in July.
Tejarinaft FZCO, based in Dubai, became the second-largest buyer by purchasing 244,000 barrels per day from Rosneft, while QR Trading DMCC, also in Dubai, secured the third spot, moving 199,000 barrels per day from Surgutneftegas PJSC. Other prominent buyers included Concept Oil Services Ltd from Hong Kong (152,000 b/d), Bellatrix Energy Ltd based in Hong Kong (151,000 b/d), and Coral Energy DMCC from Dubai (121,000 b/d).
Source : oilprice.com
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