US sanctioned tankers previously shipped Russian crude to India

Three oil tankers, newly sanctioned by Washington, regularly shipped Russian Sokol crude to India in recent months, shiptracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on maritime companies and vessels for shipping Russian oil sold above the Group of Seven's price cap, as Washington seeks to close loopholes in the mechanism designed to punish Moscow for its war in Ukraine.

The Liberian-flagged ships hit with sanctions are the Kazan, Ligovsky Prospect and NS Century, according to the Treasury Department.

All three Aframax-sized tankers discharged Russian Sokol crude in India in September while two of them made the trip in October, LSEG data showed.

NS Century is currently on its way to discharge Sokol crude at Vadinar in India on Nov. 25, LSEG and Kpler data showed.

Sokol crude is produced at the Sakhalin-1 project, managed by a Rosneft subsidiary after the exit of ExxonMobil XOM.N.

Other shareholders include India's ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp ONGC.NS, and Sakhalin Oil and Gas Development Co (SODECO), a consortium of Japanese firms.