Chinese refineries have purchased 15 cargoes of Russian oil for October and November delivery as Indian demand for Moscow’s exports falls away, two analysts and one trader said on Tuesday.

India has emerged as the leading buyer of Russian seaborne oil, which has sold at a discount since some Western nations shunned purchases and imposed restrictions on Russian exports over Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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Indian state-refiners have backed out Russian crude imports by approximately 600,000 to 700,000 bpd, according to Energy Aspects’ Jones.

“We do not expect China to absorb all of the additional Russian volumes, as Urals is not a baseload grade for Chinese majors,” he said, referring to Chinese state refineries which are not designed to solely process the Russian grade.

Chinese refiners will also be wary about the possibility of U.S. secondary sanctions if Trump’s push for a Ukraine peace deal breaks down, he added.

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