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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Factbox-Russian energy export disruptions since start of Ukraine war
(Reuters) -When U.S. President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, one of his bargaining chips to encourage Putin to make progress toward a ceasefire in Ukraine will be to ease U.S. sanctions on Russia's energy industry and exports. Trump has also threatened tougher sanctions if there is no progress. Here is how sanctions have impacted Russian energy exports since the start of the conflict. NATURAL GAS AND LNG Russia was the top supplier of natural gas to Europe before the war. Most gas travelled through four pipeline routes: Nord Stream running under the Baltic Sea, the Yamal line crossing Poland, transit via Ukraine, and the Turkstream line. Europe also imports Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG). In 2021, total Russian gas imports to the EU totalled 150 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, or 45% of its total imports, and have fallen to 52 bcm or 19% since, according to the European Commission. While the EU has not imposed sanctions on Russian pipeline gas imports, contract disputes and damage to Nord Stream caused by an explosion, have cut supplies. As part of a fresh round of sanctions announced in July, the European Union has now banned transactions including any provision of goods or services related to Nord Stream, which albeit damaged could be revived as a gas supply route. Transit via Ukraine ended at the end of 2024, leaving just Turkstream as a functioning route for Russian pipeline gas to Europe. The European Commission has also proposed a legally binding ban on EU imports of Russian gas and LNG by the end of 2027, but this has not been passed into legislation yet. The U.S. in 2024 imposed sanctions on companies supporting the development of Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, which would become Russia's largest plant with an eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year. OIL The U.S., UK, and EU all prohibited the import of seaborne crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia during the first year of the war in Ukraine. In addition to the embargoes, the G7 group of countries (including the US, UK, and EU) imposed a price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil for third countries at $60 per barrel in December 2022, and a cap on fuels the following February. The EU and UK altered the crude price cap level in June 2025 to $47.60, or 15% below the average market price, but the U.S. did not back the move. The price cap aims to reduce Russia's revenues from oil sales by prohibiting shipping, insurance and reinsurance companies from handling tankers carrying crude traded above the cap level. Western powers have also imposed sanctions on more than 440 tankers belonging to the so-called shadow fleet that transports sanctioned oil outside of Western services and the price cap. Russia's leading shipper Sovcomflot is also under sanctions in the West. The U.S. has also sanctioned major Russian oil companies including Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz. The measures banning Russian oil imports in the west and restricting Russian oil trade elsewhere have redirected Russian oil flows towards Asia, with China, India, and Turkey emerging as the major buyers for Russian crude. The price cap was meant to keep Russian oil flowing to prevent a spike in global oil prices which would have followed a halt or severe drop in Russian exports. Trump has, however, signalled a change in policy in recent weeks by threatening to impose secondary sanctions on India and China for buying Russian oil to put pressure on Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. COAL The European Union banned imports of Russian coal in 2022, seeing volumes drop from 50 million metric tonnes in 2021 to zero by 2023, according to data from Eurostat.
Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Russian energy export disruptions since start of Ukraine war
Aug 15 (Reuters) - When U.S. President Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, one of his bargaining chips to encourage Putin to make progress toward a ceasefire in Ukraine will be to ease U.S. sanctions on Russia's energy industry and exports. Trump has also threatened tougher sanctions if there is no progress. Here is how sanctions have impacted Russian energy exports since the start of the conflict. Russia was the top supplier of natural gas to Europe before the war. Most gas travelled through four pipeline routes: Nord Stream running under the Baltic Sea, the Yamal line crossing Poland, transit via Ukraine, and the Turkstream line. Europe also imports Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG). In 2021, total Russian gas imports to the EU totalled 150 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year, or 45% of its total imports, and have fallen to 52 bcm or 19% since, according to the European Commission. While the EU has not imposed sanctions on Russian pipeline gas imports, contract disputes and damage to Nord Stream caused by an explosion, have cut supplies. As part of a fresh round of sanctions announced in July, the European Union has now banned transactions including any provision of goods or services related to Nord Stream, which albeit damaged could be revived as a gas supply route. Transit via Ukraine ended at the end of 2024, leaving just Turkstream as a functioning route for Russian pipeline gas to Europe. The European Commission has also proposed a legally binding ban on EU imports of Russian gas and LNG by the end of 2027, but this has not been passed into legislation yet. The U.S. in 2024 imposed sanctions on companies supporting the development of Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project, which would become Russia's largest plant with an eventual output of 19.8 million metric tons per year. The U.S., UK, and EU all prohibited the import of seaborne crude oil and refined petroleum products from Russia during the first year of the war in Ukraine. In addition to the embargoes, the G7 group of countries (including the US, UK, and EU) imposed a price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil for third countries at $60 per barrel in December 2022, and a cap on fuels the following February. The EU and UK altered the crude price cap level in June 2025 to $47.60, or 15% below the average market price, but the U.S. did not back the move. The price cap aims to reduce Russia's revenues from oil sales by prohibiting shipping, insurance and reinsurance companies from handling tankers carrying crude traded above the cap level. Western powers have also imposed sanctions on more than 440 tankers belonging to the so-called shadow fleet that transports sanctioned oil outside of Western services and the price cap. Russia's leading shipper Sovcomflot is also under sanctions in the West. The U.S. has also sanctioned major Russian oil companies including Gazprom Neft ( opens new tab and Surgutneftegaz ( opens new tab. The measures banning Russian oil imports in the west and restricting Russian oil trade elsewhere have redirected Russian oil flows towards Asia, with China, India, and Turkey emerging as the major buyers for Russian crude. The price cap was meant to keep Russian oil flowing to prevent a spike in global oil prices which would have followed a halt or severe drop in Russian exports. Trump has, however, signalled a change in policy in recent weeks by threatening to impose secondary sanctions on India and China for buying Russian oil to put pressure on Putin to agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. The European Union banned imports of Russian coal in 2022, seeing volumes drop from 50 million metric tonnes in 2021 to zero by 2023, according to data from Eurostat.
NDTV
30-07-2025
- Business
- NDTV
The West Botched Up Russia ... And Now Wants India To Foot The Bill
Both the US and the EU seek to offload onto our backs some of their continuing failures in dealing with Russia. They have imposed a series of draconian sanctions on Russia for intervening militarily in Ukraine, but these have not caused the economic collapse of the country as they thought it would. The objective of the US and the EU has been to deprive Russia of financial resources to continue its military operations in Ukraine, given that the export of oil and gas is Russia's main source of state revenue. In 2022, the Nord Stream pipeline was blown up to break the expanding energy link between Russia and Europe. Double Standards The EU has since 2022 progressively reduced the purchase of Russian oil and gas in line with its decision to end its energy dependence on the country. The goal is to end all such purchases, though oil, gas and, especially, refined products, continue to flow to Europe from Russia. This has, of course, opened up Europe to the charge of double standards when they exhort other countries to end oil and gas trade with Russia. To avoid a steep rise in oil prices that would damage the global economy and raise the prices at the pump also for Western consumers, a 'via media' of a price cap of $60 per barrel was put on Russian crude oil on December 5, 2022. On February 5, 2023, this was extended to refined petroleum products. The aim was to prevent an oil price shock as well as to put a squeeze on Russia's oil earnings. This cap also prohibited participating countries from providing shipping, insurance, and other services for Russian oil sold above this price, as also prevent Russia from chartering or insuring oil tankers unless they complied with these limits. As it happens, 90% of shipping insurers are Western. All these measures were intended to force countries to buy Russian crude, etc., only at that capped price if they wanted to avoid reprisals. Russia's Shadow Fleets Russia has tried to circumvent these sanctions on shipping by creating a so-called "shadow fleet" of oil tankers, numbering anything from 400 to 1,400, to ply its oil trade with non-Western countries. This fleet is now being targeted by the EU and the UK. There is, of course, no legal basis for these restrictions. India had come under pressure in 2022 itself to condemn Russia and end oil trade with it. We were being accused of helping finance Russia's war against Ukraine. We were told that we should take a moral position and be on the right side of history. This was total hypocrisy from our point of view, as the history that we have experienced was marked by centuries of colonial depredations and decades of Western sanctions because of our refusal to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty and accept international control over our nuclear and missile programmes. India's Interests In Russia India has invested heavily in Russia's oil sector. In fact, the biggest investment India has made in the hydrocarbon sector abroad has been in Russia. As of October 2023, India's investments in Russia were estimated to be USD 16 billion. In turn, Russian oil producer Rosneft gained access to India's fuel retail market when it completed a USD 12.9 billion deal to acquire private refiner Essar Oil in 2017. Rosneft announced in May this year that India was a "strategic partner", and that it was cooperating with Indian companies in "production, oil refining and trading of oil and petroleum products". India began importing large volumes of Russian oil after its military operation against Ukraine in February 2022, which attracted massive Western oil sanctions, which compelled it to explore other markets. India, the world's third-largest oil-consuming and -importing nation, saw an opportunity to obtain oil at discounted prices that Russia was offering. India's position has been very clear and firm from the beginning, viz., that India is hugely dependent on imported energy, that the price of oil plays a vital role in its economy, that its primary responsibility is towards its own people, and that in accordance with its national interest it would buy oil from the cheapest available source. New Delhi Has Done Nothing Illegal India does not recognise the legal validity of sanctions unless they are approved by the UN. In any case, in buying Russian oil, India has not violated any lawful sanctions. It has also bought Russian oil below the price cap imposed by the West. It is true that before February 2022, only 2% of its oil imports came from Russia. Since then, Russia has become India's biggest oil supplier, with 40% of our supplies coming from that country. India has saved billions in buying discounted Russian oil, saving over USD 25 billion in FY24 alone. India's total trade with Russia stands at $65.69 billion, largely accounted for by the oil trade. The West has grudgingly recognised its inability to persuade India not to buy Russian oil. However, anti-Russian Western lobbies have not given up their quest to apply pressure on India, seeing that the West's goal of imposing a strategic defeat on Russia has proved illusory. To the contrary, a strategic victory of Russia in Ukraine seems to be on the cards. With no new options available, these lobbies continue to rely on the failed instrument of imposing even more sanctions on Russia. Their frustration leads them to target the biggest buyers of Russian oil. The West's Arrogance Diehard US senators like Lindsey Graham and Max Blumenthal, who are pathologically anti-Russian, are moving legislation (S.1241 - Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025) to impose 500% tariffs on all goods and services imported into the United States from countries that knowingly engage in the exchange of Russian-origin uranium and petroleum products. They have singled out India, China and Brazil by naming them in their public statements. Lindsey Graham claims that he has worked with Trump to highlight the merits of this legislation, pointing out to him that the proposed legislation carries a waiver clause that would allow the US president discretion in the application of these tariffs. Even conceiving of such a move reflects the arrogance of power and a sense of impunity that marks the thinking of some elements in America's political class. It also shows a void in geopolitical thinking. This move has come when Trump is negotiating a trade deal with China. The two have reached an interim agreement that involves US concessions in the face of China's readiness to deny the US access to some critical materials, etc. In such a situation, the threat to apply 500% tariffs on China if it buys Russian oil confounds common sense, especially as China is connected with oil and gas pipelines to Russia. Political Myopia Similarly, India and the US are negotiating an interim trade deal, pending a multi-sectoral trade agreement to be negotiated by autumn this year, when the Quad summit is scheduled in Delhi and which Trump is expected to attend. Trump seems to be following the India-US trade negotiations as he has been publicly alluding to their progress. In the joint statement issued at the end of Modi's visit to the US in February this year, the goal of expanding bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030 is envisaged. In that perspective, to lose sight of the larger US-India relationship and threaten New Delhi with 500% tariffs on a peripheral issue of India-Russia oil trade shows remarkable political vacuousness. India has reacted cautiously to the Graham-Blumenthal initiative, stating that we have not ignored it and that our ambassador in Washington is in touch with the senators to provide a briefing on India's energy needs, etc. India has levers to use against Graham and Blumenthal, as the Air India Boeing 787 that crashed and the 20 new 787s ordered by Air India are manufactured in Graham's home state of South Carolina; Connecticut, which is the home state of Blumenthal, has a large number of Indian students. One hopes that the India-American community in the US is being galvanised to put some pressure on these two senators. NATO's Inexplicable Entry Trump also waded into the matter in mid-July by announcing that he was giving Putin 50 days to enter into peace talks with Ukraine or face what he called "secondary tariffs" of 100% as well as secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil. Rather surprisingly, NATO Secretary General Rutte has backed this threat and has warned India to heed this warning of secondary sanctions. NATO has no locus standi in the matter, and Rutte's remarks seem to suggest, most objectionably, that NATO's remit covers India too. India has rejected Rutte's remarks by stating that securing the energy needs of our people is our overriding priority and that we are guided by the market and prevailing global circumstances. We have warned against double standards, having in mind that Europe is still buying oil and gas from Russia. Turkey, for example, is a major buyer. So, is the NATO Secretary General threatening implicitly US sanctions on a NATO member? EU Has Something To Say, Too The EU has also taken the highly retrograde step of imposing in its 18th round of sanctions on Russia, as well as sanctions on Nayara, an Indian refinery which is a major buyer of Russian oil and which is majority-owned by Russian entities, including oil major Rosneft. The new measures include asset freezes, limits on financial and shipping services, and bans on importing petroleum products that are refined from Russian oil, even if processed in third countries such as India. India has slammed the latest EU sanctions, stating that it does not subscribe to any unilateral sanctions measures, that we remain fully committed to our legal obligations, and that we consider the provision of energy security to meet the basic needs of our people of paramount importance. India has reminded the EU that there should be no double standards when it comes to energy trade. All this points to how terribly the West has mismanaged the Ukraine conflict and continues to do so. India must steer its strategic course astutely as the US under Trump is causing huge disruptions and Europe is increasingly in disarray. Our relationship with both the US and Europe as well as with Russia is most important, and hence the challenge ahead. (Kanwal Sibal was Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia, and Deputy Chief Of Mission in Washington.) Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author
The National
21-07-2025
- Business
- The National
EU's wave of Russia sanctions three years later doesn't signal urgency
If the Russia -Ukraine War was the First World War, then by now we would be past the Russian Revolution about three years in. If it were the Second World War, the Germans would be about to surrender at Stalingrad. But in our present, with fighting largely deadlocked, Europe has just begun a cautious offensive on the economic front. The latest package of sanctions adopted on Friday takes aim at Russia's energy earnings. The mostly ineffective cap on the price of Russian oil exports using EU ships or services will now be set at 15 per cent below market prices, instead of $60 per barrel as previously, meaning $47.6 per barrel initially, which will be revised several times per year. Czechia's exemption from the EU ban on Russian oil imports has ended, closing one small remaining spigot. Further ships in Russia's 'shadow fleet' and traders working with Russian oil have been added to the sanctions list, as has 'one entity in the Russian LNG [liquefied natural gas] sector'. And transactions with the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea by any EU operator are banned. Perhaps most materially, the EU has also banned the import of refined petroleum products made from Russian crude in third countries, mostly affecting India and Turkey, but potentially GCC countries, too. Indian fuel exports to the EU doubled in 2023 to 200,000 barrels a day, and have remained elevated since. The latest European sanctions have already markedly tightened the diesel market. Indian refiner Nayara, owned 49.13 per cent by Russia's state Rosneft, is hit with sanctions. Previous European sanctions have been notably leaky. The Russian war juggernaut has been slowed but not derailed. Brussels still seems lackadaisical about the urgency of the situation, as missiles and drones pound Ukrainian cities, and thousands of North Korean troops appear on the battlefield. Europe's own bloody colonial history should tell it the fate of those who allow foreign military adventurers to interfere in their domestic affairs. Is it enough? Putting sanctions only now on a pipeline that was mostly blown up in September 2022 may not be the height of courage. More aggressive measures have been hamstrung until now by opposition from some EU members, who are either politically friendly to Russia, or who claim that special circumstances should entitle them to exemptions. Sanctioned goods, including military components, continue to flood into Russia through backdoors in Central Asian states and through China. The oil price cap has been largely ineffective because it is hard to monitor, and because Greek and other European shipowners have been happy to sell old vessels into the shadow fleet. The most effective sanctions on Russian energy were imposed by Moscow itself, and by the still mysterious bombers of the Nord Stream pipeline. Russia started cutting down on gas exports to the EU from September 2021, well before launching its invasion, then imposed payment conditions that most of its buyers rejected. The EU did at least move in March to ban the trans-shipment of Russian LNG through European ports. This was an inconvenience, as Russia's Arctic LNG terminals typically use expensive ice-class tankers, then transfer their cargoes to standard vessels in warmer waters. In May, the European Commission presented a roadmap to phase out remaining imports of Russian LNG and gas by pipeline. In 2024, Russia sold about 21 billion cubic metres of LNG and 27 BCM of gas by pipeline to the EU, still almost a fifth of the bloc's total. The pipeline gas would anyway fall this year, since transit by Ukraine, having remarkably continued through the war, was finally cut off at the end of last year. The LNG will be diverted to other markets, primarily in Asia, but the pipeline gas has no other outlet. Russia currently earns roughly $230 billion per year from its exports of oil, gas and coal. This has already fallen from around $400 billion during the invasion year of 2022. The new measures on gas would cut its revenues by some $5 billion annually. Effective wielding of the new, lower price cap on oil might chop off $30 billion or so over the course of a year. Enforcement will be crucial, as Russia, like Iran, continues to juggle the shadow fleet, and traders find way to obfuscate oil's origins. Higher costs for tankers and transactions add a few more billion. But this is nibbling at the edges, not biting into the jugular vein. The wildcard is the US. President Donald Trump's erratic moves on the conflict and his threats of the puzzling 'secondary tariffs' on countries buying Russian oil are hard to analyse. New, much more aggressive sanctions proposed in Congress would target Russia's trade partners, but they have been paused during a 50-day hiatus announced by Mr Trump. It is not clear if the US will join enforcement of the new oil price cap, which will be crucial in its effectiveness. Where Russia stands Still, the Russian economy is under strain. Budget revenues have been revised down this year because of lower global energy prices. The national wealth fund could be depleted by next year, as the government withdraws from it to cover the deficit. The economy contracted in the first quarter, despite the huge spending on military production, even official figures admit of inflation being about 10 per cent, and central bank interest rates are at 20 per cent. The future of the war effort depends crucially on the direction of oil prices, and how far Opec+ is able to keep raising output without seriously denting the market. By October, Russia's allowable crude production will not be far short of its previous historic high in 2022. It will become apparent how sustainable this level is. Oil prices have shrugged off the impact of the Israel-Iran war. They were not excited either by the news of the latest sanctions. As for gas, the expected increasing oversupply from next year onwards may stiffen sinews in European capitals to get off Russian supplies entirely. It does not seem likely that this war will end like the Eastern Front in the First World War, with bread riots in Petrograd, nor like the Second World War, with crushing battlefield defeats accompanying economic collapse. But sanctions are putting ever more sand in the gears of a war machine already strained to its limits. The hope in Kyiv must be that the pressure on their weary soldiers and civilians eases, and a combination of military and financial pressure opens a path to genuine peace.
Russia Today
20-07-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
‘Rout' of Ukraine will continue
Russia will continue to rout Ukrainian forces on the battlefield despite the EU's decision to impose its 18th package of sanctions against the country, former President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. The EU member states had approved the sweeping economic restrictions earlier in the day, mostly targeting Russia's energy and financial sectors, in another attempt to pressure the country over the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has repeatedly condemned the sanctions as 'illegal.' The measures will not derail Moscow with regards to the conflict any more than the previous 17 packages did, according to Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council. 'Our economy will, of course, survive, and the rout of the Banderite regime will continue. Strikes against objects in the so-called Ukraine, including Kiev, will be carried out with increasing force,' he wrote on Telegram. Moscow should politically steer away from the EU and distance itself from the bloc, he added. Brussels' new sanctions bar all transactions with 22 additional banks, as well as with the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The package also imposes a ban on utilizing the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which were mostly disabled by sabotage in 2022 and have remained unused since. The ban also bars the provision of goods and services for the pipeline, 'thus preventing the completion, maintenance, operation and any future use' of the gas infrastructure, the European Council said in a statement on Friday. Additionally, the new restrictions add a further 105 ships to a blacklist of what Brussels calls the 'shadow fleet' engaged in transporting Russian crude and bypassing the bloc's 'price cap' on Moscow's oil exports. The sanctions lower the price ceiling and add a mechanism for adjusting to future changes in market conditions. Russia has 'built up a certain immunity' to sanctions and 'adapted to life' under them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday, commenting on the EU decision.
