Adani Group — India’s largest private port operator — is turning away all vessels targeted by Western sanctions, Reuters reported last week, citing unnamed sources and documents it has seen. The move aims to shield the company’s commercial interest against any US backlash and affects two of India’s major oil refiners, HPCL-Mittal Energy and India Oil Corp, which rely on Russian crude shipments from Adani ports.

REMEMBER- India — the single largest buyer of seaborne Russian crude — has been under US pressure to limit its Russia-sourced oil imports. US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on the Asian major to 50% as of 27 August — following through on his threat to punish New Delhi for its purchases of Russian oil, which the White House says is fueling the war in Ukraine. India is dependent on Russia for its crude consumption, with up to 40% of its country’s crude imports coming from there.

China imports more sanctioned Russian LNG: China’s Beihai LNG Terminal has received a delivery of over 166k cubic meters (cbm) of Russian LNG from the US-sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project on Sunday, Reuters reports, citing LSEG data. The sanctioned Russian tanker — named Buran — is the fourth vessel to deliver to Beihai, the data shows.

China has received over 552k cbm of Russian LNG since late last month, according to the newswire. A fifth US-sanctioned vessel — the Iris — carrying over 166k cbm of LNG from Arctic 2 is currently making its journey to Beihai, though its arrival date is unknown. Four more vessels are reportedly en route to Beihai.

REMEMBER- China received another Russian fuel shipment last week. The country — through an undisclosed small firm — has been importing LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project into the Beihai terminal since August to bypass retaliations similar to those imposed by the US on India. Chinese refiners have been increasing their purchases of Russian crude, taking advantage of reduced-priced cargoes dropped by India.

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