Who Are The Top Traders Of Russian Oil Despite International Sanctions?

These include the Hong Kong based Noad Axis Ltd., which purchased 521,000 barrels of Russian oil till December; Dubai based Tejarinaft FZCO, which bought 244,000 barrels a day till December; QR trading, which purchased 199,000 barrels a day till December; Hong Kong based Concept Oil Services LTD., which purchased 152,000 barrels per day till December; Hong Kong based Belerix Energy LTD., which purchased 151,000 barrels per day till December; and Coral Energy DMCC, which purchased 121,000 barrels per day till December, although they stopped dealing with Russian oil from January 1.  

According to inside information, Tahir Karaev and Azim Novruzov are standing behind Coral: “What’s really funny, if you can call it funny, is that Mathieu Philippe appears as UBO for some of the vessels they operate after he was kicked out of UML because he was Coral’s man.”  

As Russia’s President Vladimir Putin recently said, “Russia is prepared to increase uninterrupted oil supplies to support the development of the Chinese economy.” As of last February, Russia supplied China with a record high of 2.01 million barrels a day last February, China’s General Administration of Customs Data reported.   Indeed, one could argue, it would be much harder for Putin to politically survive were it not for China’s support for the Russian economy as it faced international sanctions.

India has also become a major importer of Russian oil, with Russia being its largest oil importer.  After an oil price cap was imposed upon Russia last December, there have been reports that Indian customers have paid for Russian oil in non-dollar currencies, such as those of the UAE and Russian ruble. 

Thus, for the first time, the oil trade is now weaning away from payments in US dollars as part of Russian efforts to continue trading its oil despite the existence of the US and European sanctions.