Reuters has reviewed an analysis of the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, conducted by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
OFAC believes that the sanctions imposed on October 22 “have had the intended effect of reducing Russia’s revenue streams by reducing the price of Russian oil.” This, in turn, reduces Russia’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine, the agency continues.
It is noted that several key types of Russian crude are selling at multi-year lows, and almost a dozen major Indian and Chinese buyers have announced their intention to stop buying Russian oil in December.
Reuters notes that Urals crude for loading at the port of Novorossiysk was trading at $45.35 a barrel on November 12, the lowest level since March 2023, when Russia began building a “shadow fleet” to circumvent a price ceiling set that winter, according to LSEG data. As of Monday, the price had risen to $47.01 a barrel.
For comparison, the industry benchmark Brent crude was $62.71 per barrel on November 12 and $64.03 on November 17.
