The United States continues to increase pressure on Russia's shadow fleet of dozens of tankers carrying Russian oil in violation of the price ceiling. On Friday, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced new measures against those trying to circumvent sanctions.
The sanctions were imposed on three tanker-owning companies that "transported Russian Urals crude oil at a price higher than $70 per barrel after the ceiling was imposed" and "used financial services of U.S. persons," OFAC said in a release.
In particular, sanctions were imposed against:
The sanctioned companies and tankers have their assets in the United States blocked, and US persons are prohibited from cooperating with them.
"Enforcing the price ceiling on Russian oil is a top priority of the United States and its coalition partners," said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemi.
In October-November, the United States imposed sanctions on the first five tankers, which quickly led to a decline in the price of oil in Russia and an increase in the cost of its transportation. Washington also requested information from 30 shipping companies about another hundred tankers.
Background. As reported, the United States is threatening to imprison shipping carriers that transport Russian oil above the price ceiling.