Crude oil pricing continued to surge on Thursday after the EU joined the US in intensifying pressure on Russia with the launch of fresh sanctions measures targeting the country’s energy sector.

The European Commission has adopted a ban on all imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia, with the embargo to come into effect within six months for short-term contracts and from 1 January 2027 for long-term contracts.

The Commission has also approved widening restrictions on core Russia energy players Gazprom Neft and Rosneft to remove the exemption for oil and gas imports. Despite the ban, flows of oil from third countries such as Kazakhstan and oil complying with the price cap to third countries are exempted.

The announcement follows new US measures against Rosneft and Lukoil, which the country’s Treasury Department said were intended to limit its capacity to raise funds for the war effort in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump also stated earlier this week that India Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered assurances that India would restrict its purchases of Russian crude. This could further intensify pressure on Russia, as well as driving increased demand for crude from other sources.

The measures have sent crude prices skyrocketing, days after trading closed at the lowest values since early 2021.

After closing around $61/bbl for Brent on 20 October, crude prices started to firm in Asia trading on Thursday, rising to $64.35 as of 00:45 GMT and continuing to climb through the day, breaking the $66/barrel mark in mid-day trading.

The latest sanctions package, which “will not be the last”, according to Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas, also includes restrictions on 117 Russian vessels, which will be banned from docking in the EU.

This brings the total number of Russian vessels in the Commission’s “shadow fleet” – vessels alleged to be circumventing sanctions – to 557.

“We will stop all imports of Russian LNG by the end of 2026 and crack down on the oil shadow fleet,” said Dan Jorgensen, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing.

The measures also include sanctions on two China-based refiners and an oil trader that the Commission alleges purchase significant qualities of Russian oil. China-based players were also caught up in new UK-Russia sanctions announced last week.

Source: ICIS