The European Union (EU) has just agreed to a partial ban on Russian oil imports. This ban, once fully implemented, is expected to cause oil prices to skyrocket. But Russian officials say the embargo will leave them relatively unscathed.
The EU relies on Russia for more than 25 percent of its oil and 40 percent of its natural gas. The embargo, once fully implemented over the next six months, will cut Russian oil imports to the bloc by nearly 90 percent.
The embargo comes with the EU's sixth package of economic sanctions meant to cripple Russia's ability to finance its ongoing war in Ukraine.
The passage of the embargo did not cause oil prices to skyrocket immediately only because the ban has not yet been fully implemented.
"This is going to take quite a bit of time for those sanctions to come into play," explained Debnil Chowdhury, vice president and head of America's refining for S&P Global Commodity Insights. "It's not like when the U.S. announced [a ban on Russian oil in] 45 days.
"It's more like six months, and the market had already factored in that this was going to happen," continued Chowdhury. "That's why we didn't see crude prices go up $15 to $20 today. It wasn't a surprise since this has been talked about for the past month."
Russia will find other countries willing to buy its oil
Responding to the EU's oil embargo, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said the ban reflects negatively on the bloc.
"As she rightly said yesterday, Russia will find other importers," wrote Ulyanov on his Twitter account. He is referring specifically to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who spearheaded the push to embargo Russian oil following earlier objections.
"Noteworthy that now she contradicts her own yesterday's statement. Very quick change of the mindset indicates that the EU is not in a good shape," added Ulyanov.
Russian economist Sergei Aleksashenko, a former deputy chairman of Russia's central bank and who now lives in exile in the United States, noted that the embargo is unlikely to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from pushing through with his war in Ukraine.
Aleksashenko said Putin's economic advisors have likely already informed him of the estimated impact of the embargo on the Russian economy "and he will laugh quietly. He is not changing his course."
Russia is the world's largest exporter of crude oil to global markets and is also a major exporter of natural gas. Once the EU's oil embargo is fully implemented, it could affect between 20 to 30 percent of Russian oil production if Russia is unable to find new trade partners to buy the oil. The country could also lose about $10 billion of revenue a year from this.
Unfortunately for the EU, Russia already has other importers lined up, including China and India. (Related: OIL LAUNDERING: India imports Russian oil at a discounted price, refines it and sells to the West for massive profits.)
The EU, along with the U.S. and their allies are already preparing to ratchet up the pressure on India and other energy-importing countries reliant on Russian oil to impose a similar embargo.
NewEnergyReport.com has more articles covering Russian sanctions and the export of Russian oil.
Watch this video from "Russia Truth" and learn more about the EU's ban on Russian oil.
This video is from the Russia Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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