Tropical Storm Bill has made landfall on the Texas coast along Matagorda Island, northeast of Corpus Christi with emergency services preparing for further flooding and infrastructural damage. “The National Hurricane Center in Miami says Tropical Storm Bill had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph Tuesday morning as it came ashore about 90 miles southwest of Houston.… Keep reading →
Soros Fund Management, a hedge fund firm, took new strides in the energy sector, purchasing stakes in Devon Energy and Transocean, a regulatory filing showed Tuesday. “The investments of investorGeorge Soros and his family, bought 385,497 shares of Devon Energy and 149,000 shares of Transocean in the fourth quarter, according to a filing with the… Keep reading →
Russian, Ukrainian and EU leadership meet tomorrow with the goal of finalizing a natural gas supply agreement as cold winter weather looms. Russia suspended gas shipments to Ukraine in June due to disagreements over price going forward and over $5 billion of unpaid bills for gas already delivered. Ukraine’s state gas company faces financial challenges… Keep reading →
On September 12, 2014, the United States (“U.S.”) and European Union (“EU”) both announced expanded sanctions related to Russia and Ukraine. These measures seek to increase pressure on the Russian Government to stop threatening the territorial integrity of Ukraine. In general, the specific sanctions (i) target specific entities and individuals, (ii) limit access to financial markets, and (iii) prohibit certain oil related exports and activities.
Please find below a summary of recent development regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia and a summary of the U.S. sanctions to date.
U.S. Sanctions
On September 12, the United States, in coordination with the EU, imposed additional sanctions against Russia in connection with events in Ukraine. Specifically,
the Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury (“OFAC”): (i) placed additional Russian persons on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (“SDN”) list; (ii) placed additional Russian persons on OFAC’s Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List (“SSIL”); (iii) amended the bar on activities by U.S. persons relating to debt of SSIL-listed persons from the Russian financial services sector to cover new debt of more than 30 days maturity (previously the bar related to debt of 90 days or longer); (iv) imposed a bar on activities by U.S. persons relating to new debt of more than 30 days maturity of SSIL-listed persons from the Russian defense and related materiel sector; and (v) imposed a bar on activities by U.S. persons in support of deepwater, Arctic offshore, or shale exploration or production projects that have the potential to produce oil in Russia and that involve any person designated on the SSIL in connection with the bar; and
the Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce (“BIS”): (i) added five entities from the Russian defense or related material sector to the BIS Entity List; (ii) added five entities from the Russian energy sector to the BIS Entity List, which are now subject to an export licensing requirement for certain energy projects; and (iii) imposed an export licensing requirement on certain Commerce Control List items known to be destined to Russia for a military end use or user (expanding the current licensing requirement for such exports to China to also cover Russia).
The EU further ratcheted up sanctions against Russia’s oil sector targeting Gazpromneft, Transneft and Rosneft with measures that will prevent the firms from raising capital in EU member states. The economic restrictions again fall short of squeezing Russia’s natural gas industry upon which many European companies closely rely. [Wall Street Journal] European Energy Commissioner Günther… Keep reading →
WASHINGTON: ISIL has battled its way to the Golan Heights, putting its mad troops opposite battle-hardened Israel. NATO says satellite imagery prove Russian troops and materiel are flowing into Ukraine. The president of Ukraine cancels a trip to Turkey and announces mandatory conscription. “Columns of heavy artillery, huge loads of arms and regular Russian servicemen came… Keep reading →
Calls for stricter economic sanctions against strategic Russian energy players are not universal among European Union countries, particularly those where Russian oil and gas dependence is most deeply entrenched. The degree to which various EU members support or oppose the South Stream Pipeline project illuminates those countries reluctant to distance themselves too far from vital… Keep reading →
Last week, the US and the EU hit Russia with a new sanctions regime in order to punish its continued meddling in destabilizing Eastern Ukraine. The economic restrictions are dubbed ‘Stage Three’ sanctions, indicating the increased level of severity meant to further ratchet up costs to the Russian economy. The sanctions now target Russian banking,… Keep reading →
The latest round of economic sanctions against Russia enacted by the US and European Union are designed to blunt Russia’s ability to tap western technology and expertise needed to develop complex oil deposits and shale resources. “The biggest edge that Western energy companies still have is their technological edge — that’s why these sanctions have… Keep reading →
