- Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many countries have pledged to end or restrict their oil and gas imports to curtail Moscow's revenues and hinder its war effort.
According to BBC News article published on January 23, 2023, the Russian economy is highly dependent on its energy sector, and Europe is a major importer of Russian energy, making cutting back difficult.
What sanctions are in place?
EU nations have ended imports of Russian oil brought in by sea, and a ban on refined oil products will come in from 5 February.
The United States announced in March 2022 that it was stopping the import of Russian oil, and the UK said it was banning the import of Russian crude oil and refined products with effect from 5 December.
An oil price cap approved by Western allies in December also aims to prevent Russia getting more than $60 (£48) for a barrel of crude oil, although the market price recently has been below that level.
Russia's gas sector has also been targeted. The EU said in March it would cut gas imports from Russia by two-thirds within a year. The UK only imported small quantities of Russian gas and it has now ended this altogether.
Have the sanctions been effective?
Since the EU banned imports of Russian oil by sea at the start of December, the price has dropped significantly.
The ban was implemented at the same time as the price cap on Russian oil agreed by the world's major economies.
US officials have pointed to the cap as having its intended impact by driving down Russian oil revenues.
But energy analyst Ben McWilliams believes it is the EU oil embargo that is impacting the price, rather than the price cap.
"Russian oil is being traded at around $50 (£40) per barrel... That has been driven by the embargo because Russia now has to try to sell elsewhere."
Moscow is losing out on about $175m (£140m) a day from fossil fuel exports due to the measures, according to a study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
On top of oil sanctions, various measures have been adopted by Western nations in an attempt to make trade with Russia more difficult.
Major Russian banks have been removed from the international financial messaging system Swift, which has made payments to Russia for its oil and gas exports harder.
Those countries continuing to trade with Russia have sought ways around this. Both China and India are increasingly making their oil and gas purchases in their local currencies.
Who is buying Russian oil?
India, China and Turkey all ramped up their purchases of Russian oil last year - and together they now make up 70% of total Russian crude flows by sea.
This pivot to new markets has been driven by Russia offering its oil at a significantly lower price than the global benchmark Brent crude.
At the start of 2022, Russia supplied less than 2% of India's oil imports. But it is now on course to become India's largest single supplier.
China's imports of Russian oil have also risen sharply in recent months, up more than 20% in the year to September 2022.
In 2021, more than half of all Russia's crude oil exports went to countries in Europe. But in 2022, UK imports of oil from Russia fell sharply and other European countries have cut back too.
Some, however, have remained heavily reliant, according to data from the International Energy Agency. In October last year, the Slovak Republic obtained more than 75% and Hungary over 60% of their oil from Russia.
European countries have been looking to see if they can source supplies elsewhere.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) club of oil importing countries agreed to release 120m barrels of crude from their stocks in 2022. The US also released some of its strategic reserves last year.
But calls for oil-rich nations such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Venezuela to increase production in the wake of the Ukraine war have not been successful.
Opec and other major oil producers cut production in late 2022 to sustain prices.
Europe still relies on Russian gas
Reducing gas imports from Russia has been a major challenge for many European countries.
The continent has been getting most of its gas through pipelines, the majority of which run through Russia.
Those that don't, such as a pipeline which runs from Azerbaijan and into Turkey, haven't got enough capacity to fulfil Europe's needs.
In 2021, Russia was supplying EU countries with 40% of their natural gas, with Germany the largest importer, followed by Italy and the Netherlands. That had dropped to around 17% by August 2022,according to EU figures.
The UK has not been a major buyer of Russian gas - in 2021, just 4% of its supply came from there. It now imports none.
EU states are increasingly looking to ship in liquefied natural gas (LNG) in tankers from producers such as the US and Qatar.
The shift towards LNG imports by European countries has been very significant, replacing supplies from Russia which had dominated European purchases over the past few years.
However, "there aren't enough LNG terminals in Europe", says energy advisor Kate Dourian. "This will be a problem for Germany, particularly."
There are several new LNG terminals planned and some already under construction across Europe as countries try to boost their capacity.
Tags: AlwaysFree,Central and East Europe,Crude Oil,English,Europe,Gas,Russia and CIS
Published on January 25, 2023 3:09 PM (GMT+8)Last Updated on January 25, 2023 3:09 PM (GMT+8)
