MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. A year after the embargo and price cap took effect, Europe continues purchasing Russian petroleum products from third countries, experts polled by TASS said.

"EU countries have mainly managed to redirect imports to oil from the Middle East. Meanwhile they continue purchasing Russian petroleum products from third countries, though they are forced to pay a premium for them," securities market expert at BCS World of Investments Igor Galaktionov said.

Head of oil and gas consulting firm Kept Strategic and Operational Consulting Practice (formerly KPMG in Russia), Maxim Malkov, believes that since the European market accounted for the bulk of Russian fuel exports other suppliers will not be able to swiftly replace such volumes of supplies lost by the European market. "Russian oil is delivered to Asian and Middle Eastern countries, after which it may be supplied across the world, including to Western countries, as blends," he noted.

The European Union will be able to replace up to 80% of fuel supplies from Russia due to rising deliveries from Saudi Arabia and the US, the expert said, adding however that this will influence prices and possibly lead to a fuel shortage in Europe itself.

In turn, Stanislav Mitrakhovich, a senior expert at the National Energy Security Fund, stressed that oil sanctions against Russia are far softer than gas restrictions. This is due to other players’ inability to replace Russia fully on the market, he explained. "In the oil sector they cannot replace Russia without heavy losses for the global economy, without impacting prices for oil products, which is why the restrictions are soft compared with the gas sector," Mitrakhovich said.

On December 5, 2022, an embargo on maritime Russian oil shipments to the European Union came into force. G7 nations, the EU and Australia agreed on a price cap for Russian oil delivered by sea, setting the ceiling at $60 a barrel. Moreover, starting February 5, 2023, similar restrictions on deliveries of petroleum products from Russia were enforced as the EU Council officially greenlighted the decision, in conjunction with the G7, to introduce a price ceiling on Russian petroleum products supplied by sea at $100 for premium oil and at $45 for discount. In turn, Moscow said that it did not acknowledge the terms of the price cap, while Russian companies would not stick to this mechanism in supplying oil to countries.