When the Trump administration slapped sanctions on Iran in November, European oil refiners turned to Venezuelan sour crude oil as a replacement — and after Trump announced sanctions on Venezuela to pressure President Nicolas Maduro out of office, "European refiners have been left competing to secure as much medium, sour Russian Urals as they can," Reuters reports. Trump's sanctions have removed at least 800,000 barrels a day from the market, and with OPEC simultaneously slashing the supply of sour crude oil, Russia is cashing in.
The U.S. is producing more oil than ever, but it is mostly light, sweet crude, so "it is not an alternative" for Europe, Reuters says. "Thanks to the higher premiums, Russia made an additional $140 million in March from seaborne and pipeline deliveries versus October prior to the sanctions coming into effect."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
July 16 editorial cartoonsCartoons Wednesday’s political cartoons include the Epstein files landing on everyone's summer reading list, and the relationship between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin
-
Viktor Orban: is time up for Europe's longest-serving premier?Today's Big Question Hungarian PM's power is under threat 'but not in the way – or from the people – one might expect'
-
Operation Rubific: the government's secret Afghan relocation schemeThe Explainer Massive data leak a 'national embarrassment' that has ended up costing taxpayer billions
-
Why the world's busiest shipping routes are under threatThe Explainer Political tensions, mega ships and global warming offer new challenges – and opportunities
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Is the EU funding Russia more than Ukraine?The Explainer EU remains largest importer of Russian fossil fuels despite sanctions aimed at crippling Kremlin's war effort
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress codespeed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirementspeed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff displaySpeed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
