China and India now account for about 50% of Russia's seaborne oil exports, as Asian demand props up Moscow's energy revenues

China and India are the main destinations for half of the Russian oil that is transported by ship.

Russia shipped 3.55 million barrels of oil over the course of a week. About half of the oil was headed to Asia, according to the data cited by the report. In the weeks leading up to the invasion of Ukraine, under 40% of the exports were exported.

According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India's buying has increased significantly while China's has remained the same. According to a report published on Monday, India's purchases of Russian crude rose from 1% to 18% in the first 100 days after Russia invaded Ukraine.

According to trade sources, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia to become India's second-largest supplier of oil. In May, India imported a record 819,000 barrels of Russian oil a day, three times more than in April.

Russian crude oil is priced at a record discount to other grades on the spot market due to sanctions and boycotts, but energy prices have surged this year, making up for the lost sales. The country's oil and gas sales are expected to go up by 20% in the next four years, according to a report.

Drawing international scrutiny

Chinese and Indian purchases of Russian oil have drawn scrutiny from the international community and stand in contrast to sanctions and boycotts from a number of western countries. The US banned Russian energy imports in March and the EU agreed to slash Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

Amos Hochstein told senators on Thursday that he had urged India to refrain from buying too much Russian oil.

India and China didn't condemn Russia's invasion ofUkraine.

Beijing dislikes the sanctions against Russia. India has been accused of funding the war in Ukraine through its oil purchases. The Indian petroleum and natural gas ministry said in May that a sudden halt to crude shipments from Russia would jack up global oil prices and hurt consumers.

Jen Psaki said in April that India is not violating sanctions by buying Russian oil. The White House said in May that China isn't violating sanctions by buying oil from Russia.