President Donald Trump has reiterated his threat to make India pay “massive” tariffs unless it stops buying Russian oil, repeating that India’s Prime Minister had assured him those purchases would stop.
The UK slapped sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil producers and two Chinese energy firms that deal with Moscow as London seeks to intensify pressure on the Kremlin over the war in Ukraine.
Russia is one of the top-three oil exporters in the world, meaning any pressure on its exports should be applied with care to avoid a price shock. Indeed, President Trump’s statement about PM Modi pushed oil benchmarks higher earlier today because of the supply tightening effect such a move by India would have.
Vucic had been seeking a three-year contract with Gazprom, following two meetings this year with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking to the tabloid Informer, he suggested the delay was linked to US sanctions on oil refiner Naftna Industrija Srbije that came into full effect earlier this month after several temporary waivers expired.
Russia’s oil production averaged 9.173 million bpd in August, compared to the 9.259 million bpd ceiling in the OPEC+ deal, which also takes into account Moscow’s compensation for previous overproduction.
“We are aligned on the need to act together and believe that now is the time for a significant coordinated escalation of measures to bolster Ukraine’s resilience and critically impair Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine,” the statement said.
Russia’s liquefied natural gas cargoes could be redirected to Turkey and Asia if the European Union makes a plan to ban Russian LNG official, Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of French oil and gas supermajor TotalEnergies, says.
Hungary imports about 5 million tons of crude oil from Russia annually via its state energy company MOL. It is one of two direct buyers of Russian crude in the EU. President Trump earlier this month called on the EU to step up pressure on Moscow by shunning any and all hydrocarbon imports, including LNG.
In Europe, Hungary and Slovakia have been the most vocal opponents of any further squeeze on Russian oil imports. The two Central European NATO members argue such a squeeze would compromise their energy security.
President Trump reportedly called on the European Union to impose 100% tariffs on China and India if it wanted the United States to step up its own sanction pressure on Russia, as Brussels discusses its 19th package of sanctions against Moscow.