A near-total ban on imports of Russian crude into the European Union is finally hitting Russia's oil revenue. Concerns that it would provide the Kremlin with a windfall to fund its war in Ukraine have been confounded - for now.
The U.S. Administration feared that EU sanctions on Russia's seaborne crude, which came into effect on Monday, would send prices soaring. The particular worry was a ban on the provision of ships and services like insurance and financing for Russian cargoes moving anywhere in the world.