Bloomberg: G7 wants to force Russia to transport oil using Western tankers

The G7, according to British authorities, intends to return under its jurisdiction oil transportation services, which Russia allegedly sells with the help of hundreds of tankers from the “shadow fleet,” reports Bloomberg.

According to the agency, restrictions on oil prices have led to the emergence of a large number of ships managed by mysterious companies. The G7 countries are seeking to narrow the capabilities of this “shadow fleet,” which Moscow allegedly uses to deliver energy resources, bypassing the services of Western companies that provide ships, financing and insurance services. Moreover, before the Ukrainian conflict, cooperation with them was the norm.

“We want to return these volumes of resources to the G7 fleet. We are making it more difficult for Russia to use its shadow fleet, which in turn will lead to more resources returning to the G7 fleet, where service providers comply with restrictions (oil price ceiling – approx. ed.)”said Olga Dimitrescu, head of the oil price control department at the UK Financial Sanctions Authority, in a podcast from the insurance company NorthStandard.

She added that the maritime and environmental risks of the “shadow fleet” are being discussed as part of these efforts. The European Union has also begun to restrict the sale of old tankers to unknown owners.

Let us remind you that the price ceiling introduced by the G7 countries and the European Union came into force on December 5, 2022. He set the price limit for Russian oil at $60 per barrel. Later the sanctions were extended to include Russian petroleum products.

In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree prohibiting Russian companies from entering into contracts for oil supplies if the price is set taking into account the price ceiling established by sanctions. Later, contracts under existing treaties with friendly countries were excluded from the ban. On December 5, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Pankin said that the Western policy on the issue of establishing a price ceiling for Russian oil had failed

In December 2023, Bloomberg also wrote that Russia’s income indicates the failure of Western oil sanctions.