From the Daily Caller News Foundation 

By Nick Pope

Russia is dodging a U.S.-led sanction meant to limit its energy revenues by using a fleet of “shadow tankers” to sell oil at higher prices, according to The New York Times.

Led by the U.S., Western countries imposed a $60 per-barrel price cap on Russian oil after the Ukraine war started in February 2022, a policy proponents claimed would severely limit Russia’s ability to generate oil cash while falling sort of imposing onerous costs on developing countries. However, Russia has managed to sell about 70% of its oil sales above the West’s price by utilizing a fleet of “shadow tankers” — vessels that are unregistered or registered in nations that are not party to the price cap agreement — to dodge the restrictions, the NYT reported, citing a new report by the Kyiv School of Economics Institute.

In the first half of 2024, Russia managed to sell about 75 million barrels of oil each month using vessels with an average age of 18 years, according to the NYT. Russia spent about $10 billion to develop its “shadow tanker” fleet.

Ukraine Reportedly Sending Cooks, Mechanics To Frontlines Of War Against Russia As Manpower Problem Grows Worsehttps://t.co/aLDjzZsW9j

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 18, 2024

Moreover, ships that are a part of the Russian “shadow tanker” fleet or that are subject to sanctions for breaking the price cap carried a record amount of oil and related products in September, according to the NYT. Some of these vessels made deliveries to ports in China and India, buyers that have purchased considerable amounts of Russian oil despite the Western sanctions against Putin’s economy.

Some officials inside the Biden-Harris administration want to see the government take a harder line against the “shadow tanker” fleet to continue to squeeze Putin, but others are in favor of treading lightly out of concern that cracking down could put upward prices on energy prices with a pivotal presidential election looming, according to the NYT. More broadly, policymakers have been especially careful in how they’ve handled Russia’s energy industry given the risks of a hot war between Iran and Israel, which would likely drive prices up.

While the U.S. and allies will continue working on enforcement, Russia is still selling oil at suboptimal prices and spending billions on its “shadow tanker” fleet, meaning that the sanction is still a success even if it is being evaded to some degree, one U.S. official who requested anonymity to speak freely on the subject told the NYT.

The White House and the Department of the Treasury did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

From Resource Works

“The World Nuclear Association says Canada could now play a major role in meeting future world demand, as several key nations eye nuclear energy to meet growing demand for electrical power and for power production that does not use fossil fuels.”

Good to see Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing restrictions on Russian exports of uranium in retaliation for Western sanctions on Russian oil, gas, and LNG.

“Please take a look at some of the types of goods that we supply to the world market,” he told Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. “Maybe we should think about certain restrictions — uranium, titanium, nickel.”

Russia is the world’s sixth-largest uranium producer and has about 44% of global uranium enrichment capacity.

Canada, once the world’s largest uranium producer, is now the world’s second-largest producer of uranium, behind Kazakhstan. Canada accounts for roughly 13% of total global output, and Putin’s comment quickly increased the value of shares of our uranium producers.

The World Nuclear Association says Canada could now play a major role in meeting future world demand, as several key nations eye nuclear energy to meet growing demand for electrical power and for power production that does not use fossil fuels.

The Cigar Lake mine in Saskatchewan is one of the world’s richest in uranium. The McClean Lake mill, which processes it, is operated by a subsidiary of France’s Orano and sells 40% of its production to the French electric utility company, EDF.

Australia’s Paladin Energy moved in June to buy Canadian uranium explorer Fission Uranium for $1.14 billion. That purchase is now undergoing a national security review ordered by Ottawa.

Canada’s 34 “critical metals” and minerals have been taking up more of Ottawa’s interest, with the feds pushing their Critical Minerals Strategy and making it harder for foreign firms to acquire Canada’s biggest mining companies.

Now, Saskatchewan has vowed to compete with China in processing and production of rare earths and to become the prime North American source for metals used to make magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines.

All this comes as one outlook says the global mining industry will require US$2.1 trillion in new investments by 2050 to meet the raw material demands of a net-zero-emissions world. The report says critical energy-transition metals, including aluminum, copper, and lithium, could face supply deficits this decade—some as early as this year.

In Canada, a new report from consultants EY says “capital is king” and is the top risk facing the mining industry this year, as tough financing and economic conditions make it more difficult to deliver the metals needed for the energy transition.

“We need about $1 trillion in investment to produce enough metals for the energy transition,” says Theo Yameogo, EY Americas and Canada mining and metals leader. “We haven’t seen that coming in. Now it’s the #1 (risk) because people are really worried. We’ve seen some M&A, but we haven’t seen direct investment in the mining sector.”

This points to the need for Canadian governments to simplify and speed up regulatory processes for new mines. It can take 12 to 15 years before a proposed mine can get through all the red tape from assorted governments and get into its first production. Jonathan Wilkinson, federal minister of energy and natural resources, announced in March that Canada would soon launch an Action Plan to speed up the mine-permitting process. But we still don’t see it.