Russia emerges as key beneficiary of disruptions in Hormuz oil, gas supplies Kpler analyst says

Russia is among the most “obvious beneficiaries” of disruptions in oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Muyu Xu, senior crude oil analyst at Kpler, in an interview with Al Jazeera.

“Right now, they [Russia] see their oil being happily taken by Indian buyers,” she said, adding that over the last week or two, Russia “snapped more than 30 million barrels of rrude oil” since their “prompt delivery is extremely welcomed by the market”.

Xu noted that oil producers in Brazil and Canada have also benefited from rising prices. 

“The Asian buyers, they are keen to take these barrels, but then the problem is, even if they buy it now, the oil will not arrive until two months later,” she said.

She added that supply disruptions will hit Asian countries hardest, particularly those heavily dependent on Middle Eastern suppliers but holding relatively low reserves, such as Southeast Asian nations, including Thailand and Vietnam.

Xu also said South Korea and Japan are planning to release oil from their reserves, but this will “not be enough if the war drags for more than a month.”

“Even for China – now they hold 1.3 billion barrels of onshore crude inventories – but still, they need something to be able to fill in the gap immediately, and right now they don’t really have a candidate,” Xu added.

By Jeyhun Aghazada