Russia struggles to sell oil amid sanctions, loaded tankers anchored at Suez

Russia is struggling to sell its oil after Western sanctions were tightened, Reuters reports. Two loaded tankers carrying around 1.5 million barrels of Russian Urals crude have remained anchored at both ends of the Suez Canal for more than a week. Reuters reported this, citing data from LSEG and OilX.

The Sikar and Monte 1 were loaded with oil at Russia’s Baltic port of Primorsk in early October. Both tankers sail under the Gambian flag.

According to OilX and LSEG, the Sikar, which was loaded on October 6, stopped in the Mediterranean Sea near the entrance to the Suez Canal on October 24 and has remained anchored there since. It declared the Egyptian port of Port Said, at the canal’s northern end, as its destination. The Monte 1, which was loaded on October 7 according to LSEG, passed through the canal on October 30 and is anchored in the Red Sea.

The United States and the European Union tightened sanctions on Russia’s oil sector last month. The aim is to push Moscow into peace talks on Ukraine. The two vessels’ anchoring, Reuters reports, illustrates growing logistical and commercial difficulties surrounding Russian oil exports, as sanctions increasingly deter buyers and complicate delivery routes.