India’s Nayara Energy Limited on UK’s new Russian oil sanctions list

LONDON: The UK government on Wednesday announced 90 new sanctions targeting Russia’s oil giants and Indian petroleum company Nayara Energy Limited, which it said had imported billions of dollars’ worth of Russian crude in 2024.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the coordinated action with the UK Treasury will strike at the heart of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war funding, targeting companies to cut off oil revenues reaching the Kremlin.

It claimed the move will help take Russian oil “off the market” and choke off energy revenues that flow into Putin’s “war chest” in the conflict with Ukraine.

“Today’s action demonstrates the government’s determination to cut off Putin’s revenue streams – targeting Russian companies and their global enablers,” the FCDO said.

“Four oil terminals in China, 44 tankers in the ‘shadow fleet’ transporting Russian oil, and Nayara Energy Limited – which imported 100 million barrels of Russian crude worth over USD 5 billion in 2024 alone – have all been hit by this latest wave of sanctions,” it stated.

Earlier, Nayara Energy had been hit by European Union (EU) sanctions, a move it strongly condemned.

“Nayara Energy operates in full compliance with the laws and regulations of India. As an Indian company, we are deeply committed to supporting the nation’s energy security and fostering economic growth,” Nayara Energy said in a media statement at the time.

“Recently, Nayara Energy has come under international scrutiny, facing political pressures and the imposition of sanctions by the European Union which have no legal basis. We categorically state that this unilateral move by the European Union is founded on baseless assertions, representing an undue extension of authority that ignores both international law and the sovereignty of India,” it stated.

The new UK sanctions directly target Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, described as two of the world’s biggest energy companies which together export 3.1 million barrels of oil per day. Rosneft alone is said to be responsible for six per cent of global and nearly half of all Russian oil production.

“At this critical moment for Ukraine, Europe is stepping up. Together, the UK and our allies are piling the pressure on Putin – going after his oil, gas and shadow fleet – and we will not relent until he abandons his failed war of conquest and gets serious about peace,” said UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, as she introduced the sanctions in Parliament.

“We are sending a clear signal: Russian oil is off the market,” said UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who is in Washington DC this week for the International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings.

“As Putin’s aggression intensifies, we are stepping up our response. The UK will continue to strip away the funding that fuels his war machine. We will hold to account all those enabling his illegal invasion of Ukraine,” she said.

The action coincides with Russian Energy Week in Moscow, aimed at “undermining” Putin’s efforts to “pitch his most valuable funding stream” to those across the globe.

“To further restrict the flow of funds to the Kremlin, the UK has today announced that we will ban imports of oil products refined in third countries from Russian-origin crude oil,” the FCDO added.

The British government said as the Kremlin scrambles to expand its liquified natural gas (LNG) industry, the latest set of sanctions also target eight specialised LNG tankers and the Chinese Beihai LNG terminal.

Beihai has been importing LNG from Arctic LNG2 – the severely disrupted flagship Russian LNG project, sanctioned by the UK in February 2024.

The sanctions are said to extend beyond the energy sector to cover Russia’s military supply chains, by including businesses across countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Turkiye and China that allegedly supply electronics critical for Russian drones and missiles used in the Ukraine conflict.