Russia has found a new market for its crude oil in Brazil, after facing difficulties in selling its fossil fuels to Western countries due to sanctions and price caps.

According to Oilprice, the first shipment of 650,000 barrels of Varandey crude oil, a light and sweet blend, left the Murmansk port on an Aframax tanker and is expected to arrive in Brazil soon.

This is the first time since 2016 that Russia has shipped oil to Brazil, which is part of the BRICs alliance of emerging economies along with India and China.

Russia has been relying on these countries to buy most of its oil, especially its Urals grade, which has seen a shrinking discount to Brent due to lower demand from countries that abide by the sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Brazil is a major oil producer with large pre-salt reserves and aims to become the world’s fourth-largest oil producer.