The crude oil market is adapting quickly to the new sanctions against Russia's shadow fleet of tankers, albeit by creating both short- and medium-term winners and losers.

The rush to buy replacement cargoes for sanctioned Russian oil has pushed Middle Eastern crude prices to an unusual premium to the global benchmark.

Russian officials say rescue workers have successfully removed almost 1,500 tons of oil stranded onboard a tanker that ran aground in December, sparking a devastating oil spill that has damaged miles of coastline along the Black Sea.

Freight rates for Russian ESPO Blend oil loading from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino have jumped fivefold amid a lack of vessels after fresh U.S. sanctions cut availability of tankers, three traders said and data showed.

Millions of barrels of oil that would normally be preserve of oil refineries in Europe are instead heading to Asia as US sanctions on Russia revive one of the market’s great arbitrage trades.

Trade for March-loading Russian oil in top buyer Asia has stalled as a wide price gap between buyers and sellers emerged in China after costs for chartering tankers unaffected by U.S. sanctions jumped,

Russia has continued to send cargoes of crude oil to India on tankers that have been sanctioned by the US, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. This situation presents a crucial test of Moscow’s ability to circumvent the stringent sanctions implemented by Washington earlier this month.

China and India have halted trade in Russian oil due to US sanctions, which have caused a sharp rise in tanker shipping costs, Reuters reports. According to traders and shipping companies, trade in Russian oil that was loaded in March has stopped in Asia,