Tanker operators willing to ship Russian crude are making a substantial amount of money sending Russian crude to China from Russia’s Far East. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, by shipping Russian ESPO crude from Kozmino to the Chinese coast, a ship owner can make $1.6 million—three times what they would have made before the war in Ukraine. The report cited shipowners who said that industry players from Greece, China, and Turkey are eagerly taking advantage of the situation. Normally, they use Aframax tankers, which can carry about 730,000 bpd of crude, and transport ESPO from the Kozmino port on Russia’s Pacific coast. The journey from there to China takes five days, the Bloomberg report notes, which reduces the downtime for tankers that then return empty to Kozmino, making the route particularly lucrative, according to shipping industry sources. China has become the main destination for Russian oil, along with […]