Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
Russian oil still flows under the radar. It goes to "destination unknown"...
Average daily crude exports from Tanker Tracker via WSJ
Under the Radar
Please consider Russian Oil Flows, but Increasingly Under the Radar.
Oil exports from Russian ports bound for European Union member states, which historically have been the biggest buyers of Russian crude, have risen to an average of 1.6 million barrels a day so far in April, according to TankerTrackers.com. Exports had dropped to 1.3 million a day in March following the Ukraine invasion. Similar data from Kpler, another commodities data provider, showed flows rose to 1.3 million a day in April from 1 million in mid-March.
Oil from Russian ports is increasingly being shipped with its destination unknown. In April so far, over 11.1 million barrels were loaded into tankers without a planned route, more than to any country, according to TankerTrackers.com. That is up from almost none before the invasion.
The use of the destination unknown label is a sign that the oil is being taken to larger ships at sea and unloaded, analysts and traders said. Russian crude is then mixed with the ship’s cargo, blurring where it came from. This is an old practice that has enabled exports from sanctioned countries such as Iran and Venezuela.
Appearances vs Reality
This is yet another look at how sanctions don't work. The oil gest through, but the added costs drive up the costs.
Since oil is fungible, the added costs are on everyone, not just Russia.
The U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia have banned imports of Russian oil, but it would not be the...