U.S. Urgently Exempts Russian Oil Ban, 19 Million Barrels of Russian Oil Spot Granted Market Access for Hedging

Odaily News: According to ship tracking data, after the U.S. issued a temporary purchase exemption for goods already in transit, approximately 30 oil tankers in Asian waters carrying Russian crude oil and fuel have become eligible for trading. Data shows that these vessels are loaded with at least 19 million barrels of Russian crude oil and 310,000 tons of refined petroleum products. The refined products are mainly naphtha used for plastic production and some diesel. Since Iran effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the prices of these products have surged significantly. Tracking data indicates that the current signal status of these vessels is "on standby"—meaning they have no clear destination, or are shown to be heading to Singapore and Malaysia, areas where tankers typically wait for cargo transactions. Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler, stated that this U.S. decision is "buying time for countries and refiners to cope with the Middle East supply shock." She noted: "Countries will buy any resources they can find—energy security is the top priority for all nations." (Jin10)