How New EU Sanctions On Russia Will Shake Up Global Energy Trade How New EU Sanctions On Russia Will Shake Up Global Energy Trade By Greg Miller of FreightWaves , The Ukraine-Russia war has already shaken up global energy markets. Sanctions finalized Friday by the EU will shake them up a lot more — not only for the tanker industry but also for American diesel and gasoline consumers. The EU is a vastly larger buyer of Russian petroleum than the U.S., which banned imports from Russia in early March. The new EU sanctions will end Europe’s imports of Russian seaborne crude by Dec. 5 and refined products by Feb. 3, 2023. Perhaps even more importantly, the EU will phase in bans on EU insurance, reinsurance, technical services or any financial services for tankers carrying Russian crude and products to any country, including current buyers in India and China, over the same time frames. The U.K. is also set to ban insurance and reinsurance for such tankers. Over 90% of the world’s ships are insured in Europe and the U.K. The insurance ban could have “a dramatic impact on seaborne trade of Russian oil and oil products,” said brokerage and consultancy Poten Partners. “The potential implications cannot be overstated.” Russia crude exports What does the new EU import ban have to do with U.S. fuel buyers?