US adds new companies to Russia sanctions list

The US Treasury Department has added oil trading holding company IPP Oil Products and affiliates of Russia's state-owned oil company Rosneft to its list of companies sanctioned in response to Russia's involvement in Ukraine.

Treasury on 30 July barred US companies and individuals from doing business with Cyprus-based IPP, a unit of which exports Russian refined products.

IPP is one of eight entities and individuals Treasury has linked to Russian billionaire Gennady Timchenko, the former co-owner of energy trading firm Gunvor and a key shareholder in Russian independent gas producer Novatek. Other entities ties to Timchenko include Airfix Aviation Oy and Set Petrochemicals Oy.

The US and EU imposed sanctions on Timchenko last year. Timchenko owned half of the Cyprus holding company before 2014.

IPP exported about 4mn t of straight-run and cracked fuel from Gunvor's terminal at the port of Ust-Luga from January-July. It shipped nearly 500,000t of diesel in that same timeframe to northwest Europe, mostly to Rotterdam.

IPP could not be reached for comment.

The US sanctioned Rosneft last year and barred US companies from exporting goods, services or technology that would help Russia tap its deep water, arctic offshore or shale oil resources. That forced the US' ExxonMobil to wind down its operations in the Kara Sea. ExxonMobil and Rosneft had begun drilling the Universitetskaya structure at the Kara Sea's East Prinovozemelsky 1 block.

Now Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added Luxembourg's Rosneft Finance; Cyprus-based, Rosneft Trade Ltd. and Swiss-based Rosneft Trading to its roster of sanctioned entities.

OFAC acting director John Smith said the latest move "underscores our resolve to maintain pressure on Russia."

di/dcb/fn

Send comments to feedback@argusmedia.com

Request more information about Argus' energy and commodity news, data and analysis services.

Copyright © 2015 Argus Media Ltd - www.argusmedia.com - All rights reserved.