India Leads In Russian Oil ‘Laundering’ To Europe

A new report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) has found that European countries that banned Russian oil imports are instead importing huge amounts of oil commodities from India, China, United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Turkey, therefore qualifying them as laundromats. 

Key Highlights of the Report

• The report, titled Laundromat: How the price cap coalition whitewashes Russian Oil in third countries, reveals that Western countries bought $42 billion worth of laundered Russian crude in the form of various oil products from nations that are friendly towards Russia, with India leading the five other countries. 
• For instance, India’s diesel exports tripled to ~1,600,000 barrels per day in March 2023, compared to a year ago, making diesel one of the largest components of India-EU trade.
• India has particularly been offering a back door for imports of Russian oil into Britain, blunting the country’s efforts to restrict funding for the Kremlin. 
• The CREA report said the most oil products were being exported from two ports in Gujarat: 
• the Sikka port that services the Reliance-owned Jamnagar refinery
• the Vadinar port that ships oil products