China and India continue to import Russian oil amid EU, US bans

China, India, and other Asian countries increase imports on Russian oil as the US bans all Russian oil imports and the EU agrees to a partial ban. 

The higher demands in Asia will help offset the impact on Russian exports caused by US and EU sanctions. 

In a recent report from Kpler, it showed that India alone has already imported 60 million barrels of oil from Russia in 2022 so far, compared to 2021 where India imported only 12 million barrels the whole year. Russia said it hopes to use its export capacity in the West to supply its Asian buyers.

Biden announced bans on Russian oil, natural gas, and coal on March 8. However, Russian oil only makes up 2% of the US supply. On the other hand, the EU announced six sanctions on Russia, including a partial ban on Russian just last week on the eighth. 

However, the EU couldn’t agree to ban all petroleum products from Russia as it exempts pipeline imports, due to push back from EU countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic that rely on these imports. 

“Thanks to this, the Council should now be able to finalize a ban on almost 90% of all Russian oil imports by the end of the year,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Here, it is important that we really stand together to give Ukraine a fair chance to rise from the ashes and to be able to really leapfrog forward what reconstruction is concerned in investment, but also in the improvement of the state of Ukraine.”