As western politicians ever so theatrically pretend to sanction Russian oil imports (just so they can signal to their voters just how virtuous they are), especially now that the war in Ukraine is almost over with the US and Germany "pressing Kyiv to end the nearly two-year old conflict", and have gone so far as to 'demand' Greek tankers no longer transport Russian oil (something which most of the Greek dark fleet is and will continue to do), the true comedy is just how hard everyone is working behind the scenes to keep the status quo in place. For a glaring example of western hypocrisy look no further than the Russia-India-Europe petrodollar or rather dieseleuro triangle, where one year after banning most oil shipments from Russia, Europe is now binging on Indian diesel...  that was made from Russian crude.

Europe's imports of diesel from India, one of the biggest buyers of Russian crude, are on course to soar to 305,000 barrels a day, the most since at least January 2017, the latest data market-intelligence firm Kpler show.

While it's not possible to say with certainty that the molecules originated in Russia as India also processes oil from elsewhere - although a blockchain lifecycle tracing would be most useful in this regard - Moscow's soaring (and cheap) oil exports to India have given Indian refineries an ability to produce abundant diesel and boost both profits and exports.

According to Bloomberg, arrivals into Europe in November include a rare shipment from Mumbai-based Nayara Energy, which imported almost 60% of its crude from Russia this year, according to Kpler. Reliance Industries, Europe's top supplier of Indian diesel, draws more than third of its crude from Russia, the figures show.

The surge in diesel imports from India illustrates a hilarious shift in oil trading in the wake of the Kremlin's war in Ukraine, which shows that for all its rhetoric, all Europe has managed to do is shoot itself in the foot and pay more: a year ago, Russia was Europe's top supplier of diesel, a fuel vital to the industrial and transport sectors (or not so vital now that Europe is in a stagflationary recession).