India’s crude imports from the Middle East is set to rise as demand grows for oil tankers to bring cargoes from Middle East amid New Delhi’s search for new alternatives to Russian energy over US sanctions, a report by Bloomberg said.

The report said a dozen vessels have been hired so far this week to ship crude from various Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and United Arab Emirates to India.

The demand for such vessels has risen compared to the previous month, which had seen only about four fixtures, Bloomberg said.

Russian oil flows to India plunge 50% ahead of US sanctions deadline

Importers have booked supertankers as well as smaller Suezmax vessels for oil shipments in November and December and more tankers are being sought for the same routes, the repo

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