Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is seeking high-sulphur oil from the spot market in its first sour crude import tender since March 2022, expecting the latest U.S. sanctions to hit supplies from Moscow, trade sources said on Thursday.

The vessels under the latest U.S. sanctions include nine tankers that loaded oil products at Russian Baltic and Black Sea ports in December and January. Four of them - Cup, Aquatica, Turaco and Onyx - are carrying in total around 280,000 tons of fuel oil, destined for India, Turkey and Singapore, LSEG data shows.

The White House, now unconcerned about the effect on gas prices and inflation, blacklisted two of Russia’s biggest oil producers and nearly 200 tanker ships.

Oil prices fell back slightly on Thursday, a day after settling at multi-month highs on the latest U.S. sanctions on Russia and a larger-than-forecast fall in U.S. crude stocks. Brent crude futures were down 37 cents,

Oil-freight derivatives trading surged to the highest in at least a decade as the Biden administration’s sanctions on Russia continued to propel supertanker rates higher.

The United States issued new Russia-related sanctions on Wednesday targeting multiple individuals, a China-based entity and a bank in Kyrgyzstan, according to a notice posted on the U.S. Department of Treasury website.

India’s state refiners are rushing to speed up payments for Russian crude, hoping to complete their trades before a dramatic expansion of Washington’s curbs on Moscow’s oil industry effectively comes into force next month,