EU mulls plan to ban sale of oil tankers to Russia

The European Commission has proposed to ban selling oil tankers to Russia to slow down the country's growing hydrocarbon exports that bypass Western sanctions, Reuters reported on Nov. 17.

Any sales of tankers to a third country would include clauses forbidding the subsequent resale of ships to Russia or freighting Russian oil products in defiance of Western price caps, such as $60 per barrel of crude.    

"The price cap mechanism relies on an attestation process that enables operators in the supply chain of sea-borne Russian oil to demonstrate that it has been purchased at or below the price cap," Reuters reported, citing the document.    

Russia's hydrocarbon exports are a major source of the revenue it uses to maintain its war machine. After sanctions and import restrictions on Russian resources to Western markets, Russia has intensified the sale of oil to countries that haven't joined in, such as India and China.    

Besides producing weapons and ammunition, oil revenue can also be used to pay competitive salaries to mercenaries and contract soldiers, enticing them to fight for against Ukraine.