It is generally understood that economic sanctions are seldom very effective in stopping aggression or deterring bad behavior. Decades of sanctions haven’t slowed down Iran or North Korea, and our sanctions on Russia seem not to be delivering the crippling blow we were promised. But the foreign policy experts and planners love them anyway.
Bloomberg reports today:
Russia Did Most Oil Drilling in Decade Even as Sanctions Hit
Russian companies did the most drilling at their oil fields in more than a decade last year, with little sign that international sanctions or the departure of some major Western firms directly harmed so-called upstream operations. This helps to explain how the country’s oil production rebounded in the second half of 2022 even as further restrictions were imposed on its exports.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports:
Goldman says Russian oil sold for significantly more than quoted prices
Moscow’s trade partners have increasingly paid more for Russian crude than quoted prices suggest, Goldman Sachs said in a note, cushioning Russia from the impact of Western sanctions.
Yes, Russia has announced production cuts just last week, but this may be more a move to keep prices up than because of supply constraints. Guess how the Biden Administration is responding?
The Biden administration said on Monday it is selling 26 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a release that had been mandated by Congress in previous years.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.