Shipments of Russian crude oil by Western tankers rose in January, supported by cheap prices.
Last December, the G7 countries, Australia and 27 countries of the European Union (EU) agreed to put a price limit on Russian crude oil at $60 per barrel.
The cap allows non-EU countries to import Russian crude oil by sea, but blocks Western shipping and insurance companies from handling cargoes of the oil unless it is sold at or below that price.
As a result, most Russian oil is trading below that level, with Moscow Urals main-grade crude quoted at around $47-$50 a barrel on Tuesday.
Oil cargoes from Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk provinces are estimated to exceed 9.5 million tonnes in January due to strong demand from Asia and the availability of larger tankers.
Meanwhile, EU-owned vessels, mainly from Greece, reportedly shipped more than 2 million tonnes of Urals crude oil from Baltic and Black Sea ports last month.
Although this move is seen to reduce Russia's income from its oil exports, at the same time Western countries also benefit from getting oil from the country at a cheap price.
