India Rushes To Pay For Russian Oil Ahead Of Sanctions Cutoff

India's state refiners are rushing to speed up payments for Russian crude, hoping to complete their trades before a dramatic expansion of Washington's curbs on Moscow's oil industry effectively comes into force next month, people familiar with the matter said.

- Bloomberg

Pressure to stay clear of sweeping US sanctions means the refiners are now aiming to settle payments for the discounted barrels in just two days instead of the previous five, said the people, who declined to be named as the discussions are private.

The fate of at least 4.4 million barrels of Russian crude currently on their way to Indian ports hangs in the balance. At least six sanctioned tankers have loaded different grades and are sailing toward ports including Jamnagar, Chennai, Paradip and Visakhapatnam, and are due to discharge at these ports before the wind-down period ends, according to ship-tracking data from Bloomberg and Kpler.