The USA has tightened measures to maintain the price ceiling for Russian oil

On December 20, the United States of America made changes to the rules for the import of Russian oil and petroleum products. The so-called price ceiling will be strictly observed. Additional sanctions have been imposed on companies from Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, which, according to the US, help trade Russian oil on the world market.

According to the new rules, the countries that signed the agreement on the ceiling of prices – these are all the countries of the “group of seven”, the European Union, and also Australia – will be obliged to report on each commercial operation with crude oil and oil products of Russian origin. Accountability for them becomes noticeably stricter. Companies from these countries must provide data on each loading or unloading of oil of Russian origin, as well as on all costs associated with such actions.

The US Treasury has put four companies working with Russian energy on the sanctions list. These are Bellatrix Energy and Covart Energy from Hong Kong and Voliton DMCC and SUN Ship Management registered in the UAE. According to the American Ministry of Finance, they did not observe the price ceiling or increased the share of Russian raw materials in their supplies after its introduction.

• The “price ceiling” for Russian oil was introduced by the European Union and the G7 countries in December last year. It limits the maximum price for Russian crude oil delivered by sea to 60 dollars per barrel. Since February, oil prices have also been limited: the “ceiling” for light oil products is $100 per barrel, for heavy oil – $45. Moscow, however, continues to actively sell its oil to countries that have not joined the sanctions.