It looks like the Cold war super powers are well and truly burying the hatchet, or at least drowning it in a slick of oil. Russia is sending tankers of crude oil to America's west coast in increasingly buoyant numbers, and the figures look set to rise. But the jury is still out as to whether this is really an entente gone oily, or a question of cold hard cash.

US imports from Vladivostock have shot from nothing to 100,000 barrels a day in a matter of months. That figure looks set to rise even further once the East Siberian Pacific Ocean pipeline extends towards China, increasing the flow of black gold towards the far eastern port and bringing in a surplus ready to head to the US.

The time is right

"This is not a coincidence," Alexander Rahr, a Russia and Eurasia expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, told The Moscow News as the powers start to pour oil on troubled waters.

"The timing is relevant. Russia - US relations have been at a standstill for almost a decade and institutions like the former Gore-Chernomydrin Commission are now being revived."

Names and faces are now of course different of course, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pursue what Rahr calls a "pragmatic" relationship, sending delegates and committees scurrying across the Pacific.

"They are not free of problems," says Rahr. "But [Lavrov and Clinton] simply leave them out of this issue. They are discussed in other forums."

Money speaks volumes

But the arrival of oil tankers in tinsel town could mean nothing too significant "This has only happened because of the pipeline," Oil and Gas Analyst Julia Novichenkova at Uralsib Capital said by telephone. "That crude oil is intended for China, and Russia cannot just give up on China."

The US, it seems, will have to make do with sloppy seconds, "The US will only get what is leftover. I'm not sure it will be a large amount, but it (the pipeline) will reach capacity in 2014 and then we shall see."

Easing out the locals

US refiners were originally offered the Russian crude at a reduced price, and many American buyers leapt at the chance to use ESPO blend instead of Alaskan crude. Oil from Alaska has typically made up 35 to 40 per cent of the crude oil BP runs through its West Coast refineries, and about 20 of Chevron's.

"They noticed that the oil from Russia was of better quality," said Novichenkova, and so it has become a hit in the region. Not only is it better quality than the Alaskan oil, but it also comes at a time when seasonal maintenance reduces the supply from America's arctic region. The early summer influx from Siberia has held down fuel prices in California, as people start going to the pumps for their road trips.

And as ESPO crude was intended to go to China and shake up Asian markets, the Russian tankers have set the cat among the American consumer pigeons, with traders being caught quite off guard.

West Coast refinery Tesoro Corp. is testing the ESPO oil, with a view towards blends for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

"This is one that potentially has some more positive benefits," Tesoro Chief Executive Bruce Smith said in April, referring to the quality and attractive pricing of the ESPO crude-oil blend, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Oil diplomacy

While many governments are trying to tax themselves out of deficit, Russia relies on its petrodollars, Rahr says. Becoming a major supplier to the US obviously will obviously help this but there's little likelihood of either side holding the other over a barrel.

Rahr added: "For the next 10 or 15 years at least Russia will be able to find somewhere to sell its oil." And as the US can import oil from "any corner of the world," mutual dependence between Russia and America look unlikely at this stage.