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The restrictions target two major Russian producers, along with what Washington calls a “shadow fleet” transporting the country’s oil
The US Treasury Department on Friday announced a fresh round of sanctions against Russia, imposed in conjunction with the UK. The restrictions target Russia’s oil industry, including two major producers – Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz – as well as their subsidiaries and entities providing various services to both oil companies, including insurance and transportation.
“The United States is taking sweeping action against Russia’s key source of revenue,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “With today’s actions, we are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia’s oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia’s oil exports.”
The Treasury also issued a determination allowing American authorities to impose sanctions against “any person determined to operate or have operated in the energy sector” of Russia.
Gazprom Neft, which was added to the US blacklist on Friday, is a subsidiary of the Russian state Gazprom energy giant, which is focused on oil and gas fields development, as well as oil and gas extraction. It was the first company to start oil production on the Russian Arctic shelf.
Surgutneftegaz, the other energy major, was founded in 1993. In 2023, it was listed among Russia’s top 100 companies with the biggest net income, where it took 21st place.
More than two dozen subsidiaries of the companies were also added to the sanctions list.
The latest round of sanctions also targeted more than 180 vessels, largely oil tankers, linked to what the US describes as a “shadow fleet” of Russia-based operators used to ship Russian oil.
More than 30 Russia-based oilfield service providers were also slapped with restrictions.
The US and its allies have imposed tens of thousands of sanctions on Moscow in multiple rounds since 2014, when a Western-backed coup in Kiev prompted Crimea to rejoin Russia by referendum and led to a conflict between Ukraine and the Donbass republics.
The number of measures spiked after the launch of Russia’s special military operation in February 2022.
In early December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West’s sanctions campaign was futile and senseless, since Russia has successfully withstood the pressure so far and “no blackmail or attempts from outside to hinder us will ever yield results.”
America’s allies continued to buy natural gas from Russia even after the imposition of numerous previous restrictions. According a Bloomberg report published on Tuesday, EU nations bought a record quantity of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) last year.
