Russia’s state-owned oil producers Rosneft and Gazprom Neft have started to use tankers of local state tanker operator Sovcomflot to ship their crude to Asia, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, quoting tanker-tracking data and sources familiar with the operations. Tankers owned by Sovcomflot struggled to find destinations shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine as countries either banned imports of Russian oil or Russian vessels docking at their ports, all this while many traders and buyers refuse to deal with Russian crude. Insurers have also backed out of covering potential liabilities for tankers owned by Russia’s state tanker fleet operator. Many Western countries and companies are not risking touching Russia-linked crude shipped by Sovcomflot, which is majority held by the Russian government. Sovcomflot, with a total fleet of 110 tankers, owns 52 Aframaxes, which makes it the world’s largest owner of those types of vessels. The recent uptick in the […]