I was recently quoted in TradeWinds on the growing number of tankers going dark as the EU considers expanding restrictions on maritime services connected to Russia’s oil trade.
It now looks increasingly certain that the EU, and likely the UK, will move to a comprehensive maritime services ban on the carriage of Russian crude
As a follow-up to our previous client alerts on the EU’s Russian gas phase-out (available here), we have prepared an infographic summarising how the EU sanctions framework (Regulation 833/2014) interacts with the RePowerEU phase-out Regulation (Regulation 2026/261), including the key contract cut-off and phase-out dates for both LNG and pipeline
Following the EU’s existing embargo on Russian crude oil and petroleum products, the European Commission has proposed, and the Council has now agreed in principle, a complementary Regulation designed to end the remaining inflows of Russian natural gas into the Union. The measure gives legal effect to the Commission’s May 2025 Roadmap towards ending Russian
In continuation of the UK’s sanctions restrictions against Russia, on 15 October 2025, the UK imposed further sanctions on various entities and vessels.
The headline designations include:
In some regards, these designations mirror the intent of the EU (noting their upcoming 19th sanctions package is intended to impose a full transaction ban on Russian oil majors), signaling joint efforts on the sanctions efforts against Russia between the UK and EU in recent months.
Continue Reading UK Sanctions – Rosneft, Lukoil and othersOn January 10, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a sweeping set of actions to further reduce Russian revenues from energy, including blocking two major Russian oil producers, Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, and imposing sanctions on a very significant number of oil-carrying vessels, opaque traders of Russian oil located in jurisdictions like Hong Kong and the UAE, Russia-based oilfield service providers, and Russian energy officials. The U.S. Department of State also took steps to block two active liquefied natural gas projects, a large Russian oil project, and third-country entities supporting Russia’s energy exports. Lastly, the United Kingdom also joined the U.S. in sanctioning Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas – which, coupled with the joint Memorandum of Understanding issued by OFAC and OFSI on January 13, is a testament to the increased cooperation between the U.S. and UK authorities. Although there are wind-downs in place for most of these entities, this round of designations is likely to cause major disruptions in the market. We summarize the new restrictions in turn below:
Continue Reading U.S. and UK Intensify Sanctions Against Russia’s Oil Sector in one of the Largest Rounds of Designations Since the Outbreak of the WarOn 24 June 2024, the EU agreed the long-awaited 14th package of sanctions against Russia. These latest measures introduce several new thematic restrictions and imposed asset freeze measures on an additional 116 individuals and entities including Sovcomflot and the Volga Dnepr Group.
Continue Reading EU 14th Sanctions Package against Russia
After various delays, on 19 February 2024 the EU Commission issued its FAQ guidance on Article 3q of Council Regulation (EU) No. 833/2014 (as amended). The FAQ document provides some key clarifications sought by the market. However, some uncertainties remain
Continue Reading EU Clarifies Article 3q for Tanker S&P Market
On 18 December, the EU announced their 12th round of sanctions targeting Russia. This comes against the backdrop of a flurry of Russia sanctions related activity and a number of designations of third country actors believed to be engaged in price-cap circumvention.
Continue Reading Christmas comes early for G7 operators – EU adopts 12th package of sanctions against Russia, changes to the Price Cap Model
After many rumors of potential changes to the U.S. policy on Venezuela, on October 18, 2023 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued four general licenses, representing a significant shift in its Venezuela sanctions program. Most pertinent for the shipping industry, certain sanctions that were in place against Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) and the Venezuela oil, gas and mining sectors have now largely been relaxed.
Continue Reading Shipping briefing: Drill, baby, drill? A new Venezuelan wave for the shipping industry