Surging sea freight is eroding the economics of long-haul crude shipments, pushing Indian refiners toward Persian Gulf barrels and away from Russian supply. Traders said some Iraqi cargoes were offered more than $25/bbl below the Dubai benchmark on a pre-loading basis; on an India-delivered basis that equates to a few dollars per barrel below spot Brent. Russian grades are being quoted about $2/bbl over regional benchmarks, making them uneconomic for many Indian buyers. Bharat Petroleum’s CFO sa

Surging sea freight is eroding the economics of long-haul crude shipments, pushing Indian refiners toward Persian Gulf barrels and away from Russian supply. Traders said some Iraqi cargoes were offered more than $25/bbl below the Dubai benchmark on a pre-loading basis; on an India-delivered basis that equates to a few dollars per barrel below spot Brent. Russian grades are being quoted about $2/bbl over regional benchmarks, making them uneconomic for many Indian buyers. Bharat Petroleum’s CFO said November Russian shipments have fallen sharply as “commercial viability” declined. Aramco recently sold a spot cargo at up to a $10/bbl discount to Dubai, and ADNOC sold roughly 20 million barrels for December loading at a slight discount.