Greek tanker operators led a sharp retreat from Russian crude liftings in August, as G7-linked companies moved to comply with a newly lowered EU price cap, reported Saint Petersburg's PortNews.

The EU, UK and Canada reduced the price threshold for servicing Russian seaborne crude exports from US$60/b to $47.60/b on Sept. 2-3. Although the US retained its $60/b cap, Greek firms began scaling back exposure to avoid regulatory scrutiny from Brussels.

Crude liftings by Greek tanker operators fell 23 per cent month on month to 16.8 million barrels in August, a three-month low. The share of Russian crude loaded by G7-linked tankers dropped to 23.1 per cent, down from 37.3 per cent in July and 39.1 per cent in June.

Consultancy Windward said the lower cap would "effectively lock out Greek shipowners from the Russian crude market,��predicting Greek shipments could fall to zero in the coming months.

Russia has turned to a shadow fleet of at least 561 ships totalling 49.9 million dwt to bypass the cap regime. These vessels, often registered in the Seychelles, China, Hong Kong or the UAE, lifted 77 per cent of Russian crude exports in August.

Platts assessed the Aframax rate for 100,000 tonnes of Russian crude from the Baltic to India at $60/tonnes on Sept. 4, up from $56/tonnes in early August. A shipbroker said remaining operators were demanding higher rates.

Russian crude exports to India on G7-linked tankers fell to 12.3 million barrels in August from 23.2 million in July. Non-G7 tankers increased their share to 33.8 million barrels, up from 30.1 million.

Since Donald Trump's return to the White House in January, the US has not expanded sanctions but doubled tariffs on Indian imports tied to Russian oil deals. Analysts say Indian refiners may reduce purchases due to political risks and shrinking discounts.

Platts assessed the monthly average discount of FOB Primorsk Urals crude to Dated Brent at $11.635/b in August, the narrowest since February 2022.