The US Treasury Department decided to impose sanctions on two shipping companies from Turkey and the UAE on the grounds that they transport Russian crude oil above the determined ceiling price.
The United States (US) Treasury Department announced sanctions on two companies, one based in Turkey and the other in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the grounds that they transported goods above the ‘cap price’ imposed on Russian crude oil.
The ‘price ceiling’ practice, which was introduced by the USA, G7 countries and Australia in December 2022 to limit Russia’s oil revenues, imposes sanctions on companies that transport above the price of $ 60 per barrel for Russian crude oil. Yesterday’s decision of the US Treasury Department is the first sanction announced regarding the ceiling price.
The price ceiling applies to Western companies that provide maritime services such as insurance, financing and shipping.
“Both companies benefit from a US-based service provider”
In accordance with the decision, sanctions will be imposed on Ice Pearl Navigation SA, a subsidiary of YASA Holding, owner of the Yasa Golden Bosphorus tanker, and Lumber Marine SA, owner of the UAE-based SCF Primoyre tanker. In the statement, it was stated that the Turkish company carries Russian ESPO crude oil at a price of over 80 dollars per barrel, and the UAE-based company carries Novy Port Russian crude oil at a price of over 75 dollars per barrel.
It was stated that both companies, which are stated to carry out transportation from Russian ports, benefit from US-based service providers.
Statement from the Turkish company
In the YASA Holding statement published in the Reuters news agency, the Yasa Golden Bosphorus tanker, which was built in 2007 and has a length of 248.96 meters and a width of 43.8 meters, currently has a 3-5 month charter contract with the US oil company Exxon Mobil, and the company is also based in London. It was noted that it had the necessary documents from leading insurance companies to carry cargo originating from Russia. Yasa Holding also emphasized that it has not transported crude oil from Russia as a company policy for more than a year.
Due to cuts in oil production, crude oil prices have risen to $85 per barrel in recent months. After the price ceiling came into force, China and India became the largest buyers of Russian crude oil.
“Sanctions will continue” signal from the USA
In its statement, the US Treasury Department stated that this step aims to reduce the Russian government’s oil revenues and ‘restrain the Russian war machine’, and emphasized that the compliance of shipping companies and ships with the ceiling price will continue to be closely monitored.
US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said, “We are determined to implement a price cap policy with two goals. One of these goals is to reduce the oil revenues that Russia relies on in its unjust war against Ukraine, and the other is to ensure that global energy markets remain stable despite the turbulence caused by the Russian occupation in Ukraine.” “To protect stability and supply,” he said. Adeyemo also underlined that their actions to achieve these goals will continue. (DW Turkish)
The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of News2Sea.
#sanctions #Turkish #company