WASHINGTON, November 14. /TASS/. The US Department of the Treasury requested information from management companies about a hundred tankers allegedly transporting Russian oil intended for exports in circumvention of Western sanctions, Reuters news agency reports.

The notices sent by the Office of Foreign Assets Control to ship management companies in about 30 countries are the biggest step of its kind by the United States since the time when Washington and its allies imposed a price cap for Russian oil, the news agency said.

According to a Reuters’ source, some of the vessels now under investigation were involved in lifting Russian oil from the Pacific port of Kozmino, while others were loaded at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk.

The US Treasury Department made no comment on the probe. "While we do not confirm or comment on investigations or enforcement actions, Treasury is committed to enforcing the price cap and reducing Russia’s resources for its war against Ukraine," a Treasury spokesperson said, cited by Reuters.

Russia would not supply oil to countries artificially attempting to limits on price by using the ceiling mechanism, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said last year.