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| The US blacklisted 14 Russian oil tankers. (Source: AFP) |
The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Russia's top shipping group Sovcomflot, giving the company 45 days to unload oil and other cargo from 14 of its tankers before the order is enforced.
Earlier, an alliance including the Group of Seven (G7), the European Union and Australia imposed a price ceiling of $60 per barrel on Russian crude. The price ceiling was designed to limit Russia’s profits while still allowing supplies from the country to reach energy markets.
The US and other countries' oil price caps on Russia are reducing the amount of money Russia can bring home, according to a US Treasury Department analysis released on February 23.
That analysis found that over the past month, the policy has forced Russia to cut oil prices by $19 a barrel. As of the morning of February 23, a barrel of oil normally sells for about $81.
However, the ministry noted that Russia had sought to circumvent the limit, shipping its oil through a “shadow fleet” – resulting in the country selling oil above the cap.
In response, the US and its allies have taken further action. The new analysis says the additional measures have caused some shortfalls for Russia; it says the $19 discount is higher than the $12 to $13 drop in Russian oil prices last October.
On the same day, analysis released by the non-governmental organization Global Witness showed that the European Union imported a significant amount of Russian oil last year due to a “loophole” in sanctions that allowed refined oil to be brought into the bloc.
Global Witness said that in 2023, the EU imported 130 million barrels of fuel from Russian oil refineries – generating around $1.19 billion in tax revenue for Moscow.
On the same day, February 23, the US imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russia, targeting more than 500 individuals and organizations on the occasion of the 2-year milestone of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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