According to a study of dealers specializing in West African barrels, more than 40% of Angola's 32 crude cargoes scheduled for loading this month are headed for countries west of the Suez Canal, mainly to Europe and the

The conflict in Ukraine disrupts traditional trading channels as refiners look for alternate sources and China switches to cheaper Russian barrels.

Blomberg says that Europe receives significantly more petroleum from Angola as the continent's ban on Russian oil disrupts traditional trade lines.

According to a study of dealers specializing in West African barrels, more than 40% of Angola's 32 crude cargoes scheduled for loading this month are headed for countries west of the Suez Canal, mainly to Europe and the US and Brazil.

According to the data, this is almost twice as much as a year ago, when only a quarter of Angola's monthly supply was exchanged via western routes. There are nearly one million barrels of oil in each shipment.

As the European Union banned oil imports by sea from Russia in the first few days of December, refiners in the region have been looking for other sources. One of Africa's most prominent producers is Angola, a member of OPEC.

As European importers, companies that drill for oil in Angola include TotalEnergies SE,  Exxon Mobil Corp, andChevron Corp. Instead of selling the quantities to Asia; they can choose to process the crude at their facilities in Europe and North America.

China, the primary buyer, receives fewer barrels as Europe absorbs more of Angola's output. Around 55% of Angola's crude exports to China in February were crude oil. It's higher than 40% this month.

China has been replacing its other suppliers by acquiring more inexpensive Russian barrels.