Tanker freight rates for Russian crude to India climb on higher seaborne exports, sources say

MOSCOW: Tanker freight rates for shipping Urals crude from Russia’s western ports to India rose further in late September and early October, tracking a sharp increase in loadings last month, industry sources said.

Indian refiners continue to buy Russian oil despite punitive U.S. tariffs on goods imported from India after it defied a demand for it to stop the Russian imports.

Crude exports from Russia’s western ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk rose by 500,000 barrels per day in September from August to a record 2.5 million bpd, driven by unplanned refinery maintenance.

Freight costs for transporting Urals from the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga to India for late October loading have climbed to around $7 million for Aframax tankers, up from $6–6.5 million for one-way voyages in late August to mid-September, the sources said.

Rates for similar shipments from the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk on Suezmax tankers, which carry around 140,000 metric tons, rose to about $6.2–6.5 million, compared with roughly $6 million a month earlier.

India’s Russian oil imports set to rise in September in defiance of US

Sources told Reuters that both “shadow fleet” tankers and Greek shipowners were currently involved in transporting Urals from Russian ports.

“The Greeks who were working are still working. No one has left the market,” one trader said.

The Group of Seven nations’ finance ministers said on October 1 they would take joint steps to increase pressure on Russia by targeting those who are continuing to increase their purchases of Russian oil and those that are facilitating circumvention.

Early in October, France detained tanker Boracay loaded with 100,000 tons of Urals crude sourced by Russian state company Rosneft from the port of Primorsk and destined for India’s Vadinar port.

France’s detention of a tanker suspected of operating for Russia’s “shadow fleet” is part of a new European strategy to block revenue funding Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, President Emmanuel Macron said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned France’s boarding of the tanker, calling the operation an act of piracy.

Freight rates remain elevated compared to January 2025 levels, when shipping costs from Baltic ports to India ranged between $4.7 million and $4.9 million per voyage.