Bloomberg: Asian companies left without a choice and switched to Russian oil

Asian countries are facing a serious energy crisis amid the conflict between the United States and Iran, which forced them to urgently turn to Russian oil supplies. This was reported by Bloomberg on April 1.

"There is no other way out. Refineries that do not have sufficient flexibility will primarily look for Russian oil, as it can relatively easily replace Middle Eastern supplies," said Jun Go, an analyst at Sparta Commodities.

According to the agency, South Korea and the Philippines have already received the first volumes of Russian oil, while Vietnam and Sri Lanka are actively negotiating new supplies. In addition, Thailand and Indonesia have also confirmed their readiness to start importing oil from Russia. At the same time, these countries were previously dependent on energy supplies from the Middle East.

Price pledge: Asian countries are not coping with the fuel crisis

Why are strategic reserves not saving the region, how can Russia influence the situation, and what exceptions Washington is willing to make?

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev noted on March 25 that new applications are currently being received from most Asian countries for Russian energy supplies. He added that energy supply routes are being reviewed due to the crisis in the Middle East.

At the same time, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said on March 23 that India and other countries were actively considering the possibility of increasing purchases of Russian oil, which arose due to the lifting of sanctions by US President Donald Trump on oil sales operations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said on March 20 that if alternative markets, which are now in dire need of petroleum products, are "more attractive," Russia will focus on them first.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.