Global oil price soars above $81 as US imposes new sanctions on Russia’s oil industry 

Naijaonpoint reported that after oil marketers in India and China got a wave of the sanctions on Friday, the global oil benchmark crossed $80 a barrel as they held emergency meetings to assess the situation.

This is the highest price in more than four months, as U.S. sanctions on Russia and Iran project global oil prices to sour.

The latest sanctions target large exporters of Russian oil, including those of Asia origin, insurance companies, and more than 150 tankers.

According to Bloomberg, the latest sanctions are a desperate and aggressive attempt by President Joe Biden to give Ukraine the upper hand in possible peace negotiations before he leaves office next week.

Independent refiners in China reportedly held emergency meetings to assess the new sanctions to see if they could still take delivery of crude en route when the penalties were announced.

Traders in India reportedly had similar meetings and were bracing for major disruption in oil importation, which could last up to six months.

The United States and its allies in Europe had imposed a series of sanctions on Russia after a war broke out between Moscow and Kyiv. The sanctions are part of measures by the West to support Ukraine and pressure Russia into a peace deal with its neighbour.

Over 20 subsidiaries of Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas and more than 180 vessels associated with Russia’s so-called shadow fleet were included in Friday’s sanctions.

The US is also sanctioning more than two dozen of the companies’ subsidiaries as well as more than 180 vessels, many of which are associated with Russia’s so-called shadow fleet. The latest action doubles the number of targeted oil tankers.

Bloomberg noted that the global oil market anticipated a surplus of almost 1 million barrels a day this year, but a material loss of Russian supply would eat into that.