Freight rates for Russian ESPO Blend oil loading from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino have jumped fivefold amid a lack of vessels after fresh U.S. sanctions cut availability of tankers, three traders said and data showed.

A decline in shipments in the seven days to Jan. 19 kept four-week flows below 3 million barrels a day for a fourth week

Middlemen supplying Russian oil are not offering cargoes due to new U.S. sanctions targeting Russian producers, tankers and insurers, according to the finance chief at Indian refiner Bharat Petroleum .

On Jan. 10 the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 161 tankers and traders involved in about 2,000 shipments since the invasion began. It also acted against Moscow-based ship insurers and two companies — Surgutneftgas and Gazpromneft — which in the first 10 months of last year accounted for almost 30% of Russia’s oil exports.

The recent implementation of new US sanctions targeting Russian oil producers, tankers, and insurers has created a disruption in the supply chain. Middlemen who were previously involved in supplying Russian oil to Indian refiners,

India's state-run refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp sees its Russian oil processing down to 20% in March from 31% this month as it awaits offers from traders, its head of finance Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta told an analyst call on Thursday.