UK Targets Russian Energy Sector, Third-Country Suppliers With New Sanctions

The U.K. announced a host of new Russia-related sanctions this week, targeting major energy firms Rosneft and Lukoil, along with four oil terminals in China, 44 tankers in Russia’s shadow fleet and more. The U.K. also said it’s banning imports of oil products refined in third countries using Russian-origin crude oil.

The U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office called the measures its “strongest sanctions yet” on Russia, saying they will help with “choking off energy revenues that flow into its war chest by directly targeting oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil.” Those two firms export a combined 3.1 million barrels of oil per day, the U.K. said, and Rosneft alone is responsible for 6% of global and nearly half of all Russian oil production. New general licenses authorize certain transactions with both companies (see 2510150014).

The U.K.’s new ban on certain third-country imports of Russian oil will help it further reduce reliance on Russian energy, it said. “By removing Russian oil from the market, taking steps towards peace and in turn building a more secure Europe, we are directly strengthening the UK’s national and energy security.”

The U.K. also sanctioned Nayara Energy Ltd., a refinery headquartered in India, which it said imported 100 million barrels of Russian crude worth over $5 billion in 2024, as well as the Chinese Beihai terminal, which the U.K. said has been importing liquefied natural gas from Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG2 project. Other sanctioned Chinese terminal operators include Shandong Jingang Port Co., Shandong Haixin Port Co. and Shandong Baogang International Port Co.

Other designations target LNG tankers moving Russian oil, entities supporting Russia’s financial services sector and more than 20 people and companies supplying equipment to Russia’s defense sector. The U.K. said the sanctions target businesses in Thailand, Singapore, Turkey and China supplying electronics “critical for Russian drones and missiles terrorising Ukrainian civilians.”