Tankers seen heading to Russia as oil price cap goes into effect on exports - CNBC

Two tankers were heading to Russia on Monday expecting to be filled with Russian crude as a price cap on its oil exports from a coalition of Western countries went into affect.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and high-ranking Kremlin officials have repeatedly said that they will not supply oil to countries that implement the price cap.

The G7 price cap will allow non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but it has to be sold for less than the price cap.

Trade intelligence firm VesselsValue, which tracks the trade of Russian oil, told CNBC that there has been a substantial decrease in Russian crude as European imports with alternative markets instead being sought out.

MarineTraffic is seeing two empty tankers heading to Russia.

AIS data which tracks vessel traffic is showing a number of tankers in the Black Sea, mainly crude and chemical tankers from Russia which are in transit and have listed various locations as their destinations, including India, the UAE, and China, according to a MarineTraffic spokesperson.