West buys oil from Russia amid Ukraine invasion
Doesn't Russian oil smell like Ukrainian blood to you? Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba asked on his Twitter account after the oil company Shell admitted buying a cargo of Russian crude at a discounted price. In a statement, the company declared that it had "no alternative" and that it had been a "difficult decision" because the oil supply situation is "highly complex".
This purchase also comes after Shell announced the cessation of all its joint projects with Russian energy company Gazprom. In the statement, a company spokesman said that, "to be clear, without an interrupted supply of crude oil to refineries, the energy industry cannot ensure the continued supply of essential products to people across Europe for weeks at a time".
Alongside this, the oil company sought to justify itself by stating that it would try to choose alternative oil "wherever possible" and that profits from Russian oil would be used to help refugees in Ukraine.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted the international community to condemn the country and boycott Russian products as a sign of its rejection. However, the oil market follows other parameters, and so far Western countries have not yet imposed sanctions on Russian oil imports.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is directly affecting the rise in the price of a barrel of crude oil to over 125 dollars in the United States, a rise that could push the world economy into a new recession. This rise has also been reflected in Europe after the price of Brent crude has surpassed the 115 dollar barrier, which has led various oil companies, such as Shell, to buy crude from Moscow.
Various international analysts indicate that, if the West decides to definitively prohibit the purchase of Russian oil, "world crude oil prices could rise to 150 dollars a barrel". They also state that the international sanctions imposed on Russia "will have a greater impact on market balances than the sanctions imposed on Iran and Venezuela in previous years".
At the beginning of the Russian invasion, US President Joe Biden warned that the conflict would bring with it high economic costs and an exponential rise in energy prices, and so it is proving to be. In fact, the rise in these prices has prompted a high-level US delegation to travel to Caracas over the weekend with the aim of proposing an economic agreement to the government of Nicolás Maduro that would aim to meet the energy demands that the US economy is now unable to satisfy.
At the beginning of the Russian invasion, US President Joe Biden warned that the conflict would bring with it high economic costs and an exponential rise in energy prices, and so it is proving to be. In fact, the rise in these prices has prompted a high-level US delegation to travel to Caracas over the weekend with the aim of proposing an economic agreement to the government of Nicolás Maduro that would aim to meet the energy demands that the US economy is now unable to satisfy.
This visit, published by The New York Times, has not yet been officially confirmed, but according to different sources, with this initiative the United States would try to "reduce" the impact of the international sanctions imposed on Venezuela by giving the country the possibility of recovering part of its oil production. Furthermore, with this visit, Washington would be trying to reduce Moscow's geopolitical influence over the countries it favours.
On the other hand, sources connected with the US embassy in Ukraine have confirmed the delegation's visit, although they have maintained that the reason for the meeting was to negotiate the possible release of US political prisoners imprisoned in Venezuela, including six managers of Citgo, the Venezuelan oil subsidiary in the United States.
Oil is not the only sector affected by the Russian invasion. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the conflict will have a "severe impact" on the global economy. It also pointed out that those countries that have economic relations with Kiev and Moscow will be severely exposed to the impact on their economies.
According to a statement issued by the Fund, "the current war and associated sanctions will have a severe impact on the global economy" and that those nations with economic ties to both Russia and Ukraine will be exposed to a shortage of goods.
All this comes at a time when Washington and Tehran are trying to move closer together. Regarding the nuclear deal, Iran has indicated that it will seek "creative ways" to restore the nuclear deal agreed in 2015, which the US unilaterally abandoned three years later.
Meanwhile Ukraine is in its twelfth day of invasion. Following the failure of two ceasefires, Russia has indicated that it will open new humanitarian corridors through which civilians can be evacuated. However, Kiev has denounced this proposal as "completely immoral" since these corridors lead to Belarus and Russia.
On the other hand, the announcement of new humanitarian corridors does not translate into a cessation of military offensives. Moscow has not ceased shelling Ukrainian enclaves, intensifying its attacks on the Black Sea over the past day. These attacks have led to an increase in the deployment of NATO troops in the Baltic States, as announced by Blinken.
This situation also coincides at a time when Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet to hold the third round of negotiations, in which China has expressed its willingness to mediate in order to achieve peace. In addition, Beijing's foreign minister, Wang Yi, recalled that relations between China and Russia remain "rock solid".
Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.
