The Sokol cargo was one of two cargoes sold by ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm and Natural Gas Corp to refineries Hindustan Petroleum Corp and BPCL in March.

The cargo, which was originally scheduled to be loaded in May, could not be revoked because insurance for the ship was not available at the time due to pressure from Western sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

BPCL has tentatively placed an order for the Russian oil tanker Yuri Senkevich and is trying to secure insurance coverage, they said.

The vessel is managed by SCF Management Services (Dubai) Ltd, a Dubai-based entity registered as a subsidiary on the Sovcomflot website.

India recognizes the protection provided by Russian insurers and the Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) provides classification for vessels managed by SCF Dubai.

ONGC Videsh and BPCL did not respond to emails from Reuters seeking comment.

Production at Sakhalin 1 was hit by force majeure announced by operator Exxon Mobile Corp after sanctions made it difficult to deliver crude to customers.

ONGC owns a 20% stake in the Sakhalin 1 project which produces a Russian grade known as Sokol, which ONGC exports through tender.

Sokol is primarily purchased by North Asian buyers and loaded from South Korea.

India, the world’s third largest oil consumer and importer, has not banned imports of Russian oil.

Indian companies are taking Russian oil because it is available at heavily discounted prices after several companies and countries avoided buying oil from Moscow due to sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.