India Resumes Russian Sokol Crude Imports

India has resumed importing Russian Sokol grade crude with at least two refiners taking deliveries for February, trading sources and ship tracking data showed.

• India has not received any Sokol shipments in December and January, traders said and ship tracking data showed.
• Indian state refiners had to stop buying the grade last year after the government advised them against using Chinese yuan to pay for Russian oil, which led to more than 10mn barrels of unsold Sokol floating in seaborne storage.
• HPCL has bought Sokol oil from a trader, which is likely to be paid in UAE dirhams, the traders told Reuters.
• The vessel Seagull, carrying about 95,000 metric tons of Sokol, discharged at India's western Mumbai port on 13 February, the LSEG ship tracking data shows
• In February, Nayara Energy also took a delivery of Sokol oil, the data shows.
• LSEG data also shows that three vessels carrying Sokol oil - NS Lion, NS Antarctic and Raven - are expected to arrive at the eastern ports of Paradip and Visakhapatnam later this month.