US sanctions won’t hit Russian oil supply: Govt

India, the world's third largest oil importing and consuming nation, does not expect any disruption in Russian oil supply for the next two months but its oil refineries are likely to shun deliveries made by tankers that have been sanctioned by the US in the latest round, a senior government source said Monday.

The US sanctions targeted Russian oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas as well as 183 vessels that have shipped Russian oil.

Russia used these tankers to ship oil to countries like India and China after the G7 countries in 2022 imposed a USD 60 a barrel price cap on exports by the Kremlin. This cap, introduced to limit Moscow's revenues to fund its war in Ukraine, meant that western shipping and insurance services were not available for any oil cargo that was priced more than USD 60 per barrel. To circumvent that, Russia used the shadow fleet’, insured by its own companies. This fleet has now been sanctioned.