Oil prices rose sharply on Thursday, continuing gains from the previous session after the US announced heavy sanctions on Russian oil companies, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent blasting President Vladimir Putin's “senseless war” against Ukraine.
Brent, the global benchmark for crude oil, was up 4.8 per cent at $65.60 per barrel at 6.38pm on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate, the US gauge for crude, was trading 5.06 per cent higher at $61.46 per barrel.
The new measures imposed by the US target Russia's two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft.
The Treasury said all entities that are owned 50 per cent or more, directly or indirectly, by the two companies have been blocked, even if not designated by the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
“This will be one of the largest sanctions that we have done against the Russian Federation,” Mr Bessent told Fox Business before the announcement.
The levies from Washington come after US President Donald Trump shelved plans to meet Mr Putin for talks in Budapest. Mr Trump said at the time he did not want to have a “wasted meeting”.
“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Mr Bessent said. “Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine.”
He said the department was prepared to take further action to support Mr Trump's effort to end the war. “We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions,” Mr Bessent said.
The decision "marks the most material move to date by the US to shutter the Russian war", Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy and Mena Research at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note.
"State-owned Rosneft and privately-owned Lukoil account for around half of Russia’s exports. Before this point, US policy had been designed to avoid a serious Russian supply disruption, and immediately following the invasion, the White House worked to keep Russian oil on the market through sanctions carve-outs and price caps to allow barrels locked out of Europe to find a home in third markets such as India."
The sanctions were announced while Mr Trump was meeting Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.
Earlier, EU countries approved a new sanctions package against Russia over its war against Ukraine. The new sanctions include a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports, according to the president of the EU council.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed support for Mr Trump's proposal to freeze the Russia-Ukraine war at the current front lines. The Ukrainian leader was due to visit Brussels and London this week after holding meetings in Norway and Sweden on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Kuwait's Oil Minister Tariq Al Roumi on Thursday said Opec, the alliance of leading oil producers, would be ready to supply more crude if shortages were created due to the new sanctions announcement. He said he expected oil prices to rise in response to the US and EU actions. Kuwait is Opec's fifth-largest oil producer.
THE LOWDOWN
Romeo Akbar Walter
Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
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Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Enterprise-grade%20security%20and%20privacy%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Unlimited%20higher-speed%20GPT-4%20access%20with%20no%20caps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Longer%20context%20windows%20for%20processing%20longer%20inputs%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Advanced%20data%20analysis%20capabilities%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Customisation%20options%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Shareable%20chat%20templates%20that%20companies%20can%20use%20to%20collaborate%20and%20build%20common%20workflows%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Analytics%20dashboard%20for%20usage%20insights%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Free%20credits%20to%20use%20OpenAI%20APIs%20to%20extend%20OpenAI%20into%20a%20fully-custom%20solution%20for%20enterprises%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
