Could easily employ sanctions-avoiding mechanisms perfected by Iran The European Union continues its work to fine-tune the proposal to set price caps on Russian oil products. Last Friday, EU ambassadors strove to reach a broad agreement on the issue but could not. They are now scheduled to continue their deliberations this week. There are indications…
Thanks mainly to China finally emerging from its Covid-19 lockdowns The dynamics around energy markets are changing fast. China, the world’s largest crude importer, is finally beginning to open up, signalling that it has passed the COVID-19 peak and is now ready for business as usual. As a consequence, Beijing is reportedly on a crude…
But Russia is still taking in €640 million a day from the sale of fossil fuels Are the EU sanctions on Russian crude exports working? If yes, to what extent? The debate is on. No one can deny that the price cap and the European Union embargo on Russian oil have cut into Moscow’s revenue.…
Announcement to back away from replenishing U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves in February is a warning sign When the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) rejected the first batch of bids from oil companies to resupply a small amount of oil to replenish the depleted U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR), many took it as a sign of…
The price of oil could end up anywhere between US$70 to US$121 Projecting energy prices into the New Year is an ominous task. Professionally, it could be hazardous. Josh Rubin, in his year-end piece in The Toronto Star, rightly says it ‘can be a bit like aiming at a dartboard.’ Yet everyone expects poor scribes…
Could reduce its daily oil output by as much as seven per cent over the next few weeks Slowly but surely, Russia is unveiling its counter-strategy to the U.S.-led moves on the global energy chessboard. Returning the western ‘favour’ of putting a price cap on its crude oil sales for its Ukraine (mis)adventure, Russia –…
But at least in the short term, Moscow may be able to ride off the challenge The U.S.-led western sanctions on Russian energy exports are now in force and beginning to have an impact. There are now tentative signs that the US$60 per barrel cap on crude exports from Russia is leading major oil tanker…
U.S. commitment to Saudi security is waning, opening the doors to China Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Riyadh last week provided a sharp contrast to the one that U.S. President Joe Biden undertook to Saudi Arabia last July. Pomp, show, warmth and a consensus of views on geopolitical issues were very visible during the…
Russia following Iran’s playbook on how to skirt sanctions Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, the United States, and the 27-nation European Union finally, but hesitantly, agreed last Friday to cap the price of Russian crude oil imports by other nations at US$60 per barrel. The EU embargo on importing Russian seaborne crude is in effect from…
The EU is split on the price to charge for Russian exports There are less than two weeks left, but the decision to cap Russian seaborne crude exports at a ‘certain price level’ still faces significant roadblocks. And the G7 and the European Union have not yet made a final decision as to the price…