US sanctions 17 more vessels for Russian price cap breaches

The US has sanctioned 17 tankers owned and operated by the UAE-based shipping company Hennesea Holdings for violating the Russian price caps.

PHOTO: An oil pump jack with the Russian flag in the background. Getty Images

The Liberian-flagged oil tankers were shipping Russian crude oil priced higher than the G7 price cap of $60/bbl, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said.

The US Treasury Department has previously identified another vessel, HS Atlantica, owned by the same company to violate the oil price cap set on Russian crude. “Today, OFAC is additionally re-identifying the HS Atlantica as property in which Hennesea has an interest,” it said in the statement.

“Today’s actions once again demonstrate that anyone who violates the price cap will face the consequences,” US Treasury Department’s deputy secretary Wally Adeyemo said.

The price cap coalition

The price cap coalition was formed by the G7 group of countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, and the “non-enumerated member” EU – and Australia.

They set out to curtail Russia's export revenues with a restrictive oil price cap policy and a variety of other economic measures. This, they have argued, will limit the financial resources Russia can muster to sustain its ongoing war in Ukraine.

Two price caps on Russian oil products were set at the beginning of the year. The first one was a price cap of $100/bbl on higher-value products such as diesel and gasoil that trade at a premium to crude. The second was a cap of $45/bbl on lower-value products like fuel oil that are traded at a discount to crude.

In December 2022, the first price cap of $60/bbl was set on crude oil originating from Russia.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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