Britain is targeting Russia’s largest oil companies and the country’s “shadow fleet” of oil tankers in a bid to cut off Vladimir Putin’s ability to fund the war in Ukraine. The UK government is also pursuing a major Indian oil refinery and four Chinese oil terminals in a package of 90 new sanctions.
The Russian embassy in London said targeting major Russian energy companies would disrupt global fuel supplies and drive up costs worldwide, including for families and businesses in the UK.
Russia’s two largest oil companies – Lukoil and Rosneft – will be hit with sanctions, Reeves said on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) annual meeting.
The IMF is an international organisation with 190 member countries. They work together to maintain global economic stability.
The government was also sanctioning 44 tankers that operate in Russia’s “shadow fleet” transporting oil around the world, Reeves said in a joint statement with the Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
The two Russian oil firms export 3.1 million barrels of oil per day. Rosneft is responsible for nearly half of all Russian oil production, which makes up 6% of the global output, according to the government.
Also on the sanction list is India’s Nayara Energy Limited, which the government said imported 100 million barrels of Russian crude oil worth more than $5bn (£3.75bn) in 2024 alone.
Rosneft partly owns Nayara Energy Limited, which it acquired in 2017 in a deal with other partners.
