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US sanctions three Sovcomflot tankers

The USA for the second time in a month is going after the oil tankers involved in the Russian oil trade as reports persisted of repeated violations of the price cap improved by the G7 and Western nations. The action included sanctions on three tankers, the ÄLigovsky Prospect', 'Kazan' (IMO: 9258002) and 'NS Century' (IMO: 9306782), but stopped short of naming Sovcomfot directly, again underscores the Treasury Department and Biden Administration’s commitment, alongside its international partners, to reducing oil revenues that the Russian government can use to bankroll the war in Ukraine. The action came just days after a report that Russia was routinely exceeding the price cap. Reports surfaced that the EU was considering having Denmark act as an enforcer checking the documentation of tankers. Denmark administers key sea lanes that are the passageway from the Baltic which accounts for as much as 60 % of Russia’s oil exports. In the latest efforts, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is imposing sanctions on three entities and identifying as blocked property the three crude oil tankers that used Price Cap Coalition service providers while carrying Russian crude oil above the coalition-agreed price cap. The targeted vessels were part of the fleet of ships Sovcomflot moved into the management of companies based in the UAE in response to the growing sanction. All the tankers are registered in Liberia and were currently in Asia, with two of them showing from their AIS that they were in Chinese ports, the 'Ligovsky Prospect' in 'Zhoushan' and the 'Kazan' at the Long Xue Shipyard, with the 'NS Century' in Vadinar. U.S. officials alleged that the vessels engaged in the export of Russian crude oil priced above $60 per barrel after the crude oil price cap took effect. They said the tankers had each used U.S.-person services while transporting the Russian-origin crude oil. As with the effort in Oct 2023, the U.S. however stopped short of directly naming Russia and Sovcomflot. They designated Kazan Shipping, Progress Shipping, and Gallion Navigation, each based in the UAE operating or having operated in the marine sector of the Russian Federation economy. The U.S. imposed the first sanctions on two tankers in mid-October as it sought to increase pressure on the price cap while the G7 also issued a statement warning the shipping industry on the tactics used for price evasion. With the price of oil however hovering around $25 above the cap Russia has been easily evading the cap. Reuters however cited data from the International Energy Agency showing a small decline of nearly 70,000 barrels per day in Russian exports. The U.S. would take further unspecified action in the coming weeks and months to increase Russia's costs. Oil remains one of the main targets in the efforts to reduce Russia’s export income.

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80.000 t dirty, WC Norway - U.K./continental, WS 92.5, September 12, Statoil