The Aqua Titan was halfway to the Chinese port of Rizhao when it turned around. The Aframax tanker, loaded with Urals crude from a Baltic Sea terminal in late January, swung south through the South China Sea and headed for New Mangalore on India's western coast. It docked there on the evening of March 21, the first of seven Russian oil ships to switch destinations mid-voyage.
The reason: a 30-day sanctions waiver signed by the US Treasury on March 5. The license lets Indian refiners buy Russian crude that was already floating at sea, a move Washington framed as emergency relief while the Iran war keeps choking global supply.
What the waiver actually says
OFAC General License 133 covers Russian-origin crude and petroleum products loaded onto vessels before March 5. Delivery must happen at an Indian port, and the buyer has to be an Indian-registered entity. The window closes April 4.
A second license followed a week later. General License 134, issued March 12, expanded the scope globally, covering oil loaded before that date with a deadline of April 11. Together, the two licenses opened the floodgates. They also authorized dealings with sanctioned producers Rosneft and Lukoil, and with vessels in Russia's so-called shadow fleet.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it a "short-term measure" meant to "alleviate pressure" from the Iran conflict. He stopped short of signaling any broader rollback of Russian sanctions.
Indian refiners moved fast
Within a week of the first waiver, Indian companies snapped up roughly 30 million barrels of Russian crude, according to Bloomberg. By March 18, the country had already taken in about 29.9 million barrels for the month, a pace that would mark a 53% jump over February's 1.05 million barrels per day if sustained through month-end.
Indian Oil Corporation led the buying with about 8 million barrels. Reliance Industries picked up 6 million, Nayara Energy grabbed 5 million, and Bharat Petroleum took 4 million. State-owned and private refiners alike piled in.
The math was straightforward. Russian Urals crude trades at a steep discount to Brent, which hit $112 on Thursday. With Europe rationing fuel and Middle Eastern barrels stuck behind the Hormuz chokepoint, cheap Russian oil floating in open water was too good to pass up.
China loses cargoes it thought it had locked in
Beijing had been the biggest winner of Russia's sanctions-era oil trade. Chinese imports of Russian crude nearly doubled year-over-year in January and February, and total oil imports rose 16% in early 2026 as the country stockpiled ahead of potential disruptions.
But the US waiver reshuffled the deck. At least seven tankers that had been tracking toward Chinese ports changed their AIS signals and rerouted to India. Among them was the Suezmax Zouzou N., originally headed for Rizhao with a cargo of Kazakh CPC Blend crude, now bound for the Sikka terminal in Gujarat. Traders told Bloomberg that Indian buyers offered higher premiums, making the mid-ocean switch worthwhile for cargo owners.
China still imports far more Russian oil than India overall. But the episode shows how fast trade flows can shift when Washington tweaks the sanctions dial, even temporarily.
SBI stays on the sidelines
Not everyone jumped in. The State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, has refused to process payments for Russian oil purchases even with the waiver in place, Bloomberg reported. SBI's concern is twofold: the licenses expire in weeks, and the United States accounts for 26% of the bank's international loan portfolio. A compliance misstep could put that exposure at risk.
Smaller banks and alternative payment channels have picked up some of the slack. Still, the banking bottleneck means India's actual import volumes may end up below what the headline purchase numbers suggest.
What happens when the window closes
The first waiver expires April 4. The second runs to April 11. After that, Indian refiners go back to navigating the same sanctions minefield that existed before March 5.
If the Iran conflict winds down and Hormuz reopens, Middle Eastern barrels would flood back into Asian markets, reducing the urgency for Russian alternatives. If the war drags on, Washington may face pressure to extend the waivers or find other ways to keep oil flowing to allies running short on supply.
For now, the seven tankers that flipped from China to India tell a simple story: when oil is scarce, sanctions get flexible.