Recently announced US sanctions could significantly disrupt energy exports from Russia, as the United States has blacklisted tankers carrying more than a fifth of Russia's offshore oil flows, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, Bloomberg reports.

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The 160 tankers hit by US sanctions announced last week carried more than 1.6 million barrels per day of Russian oil in 2024, accounting for about 22% of the country's seaborne exports, according to a new IEA report published on Wednesday, January 15.. However, for now the agency has maintained its forecast regarding oil flows from the Russian Federation and will update it “as the situation develops.”.

Previous rounds of sanctions against the shadow fleet used by Russia to transport its oil were “highly effective, reducing the activity of sanctioned tankers by 90%,” the IEA added..

While the new US sanctions are considered a major step, their full impact on Russia's ability to produce and transport oil is still unclear, the IEA added..

The agency now forecasts Russian oil production this year at 9.4 million barrels per day, up from 9.3 million last year.. Last December, the country produced 9.28 million barrels per day, which is 300 thousand barrels per day above the OPEC+ target, according to IEA estimates..

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The US imposed its toughest sanctions yet on the Russian oil industry last Friday, January 10, before President Joe Biden leaves the White House to be replaced by Donald Trump..

In addition to adding a significant part of the shadow fleet of the Russian Federation to the sanctions list, the States also imposed sanctions against the largest Russian companies in the oil sector, such as Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz.. Russia has already stated that it will look for ways to continue supplies of its oil and minimize the consequences of the new package of restrictions..

Europe must also take tougher measures to combat the Russian shadow fleet. Vladimir Kravchenko spoke about what methods the EU can use in the article “Russia staged a new war and received an unexpected response.”.