Russia Remains Heavily Reliant On Western Insurance For Its Oil Shipments

Russia continues to rely on Western insurance for more than half of the oil cargoes it sells, which could give leverage to the West if it decides to toughen the sanctions against Moscow.   On December 5th, the EU and G7 banned maritime transportation services from shipping Russia’s crude oil to third countries if the oil is bought above the price cap of $60 per barrel. At the same time, the EU imposed an embargo on seaborne imports of Russian oil into the bloc. Price caps for Russian oil products then came into effect on February 5,…