The Russian oil sector might inadvertently gain an advantage due to Donald Trump’s recent choice to enforce a 25% tax on purchasers of Venezuelan crude.
This action seems intended to weaken China, which is Venezuela’s primary oil buyer, as part of the continuing U.S.-China trade conflict.
According to David Goldwyn The Energy Advisory Consultancy’s president Goldwyn Global Strategies , these tariffs could increase global demand for Russian oil, despite the Western sanctions that have significantly cut Russia’s oil revenue.
To evade these penalties, Moscow has been depending on what it calls its "صند shadow fleet of global tanker operations aimed at delivering oil to prospective purchasers.
Should Venezuelan oil be largely inaccessible to all but the United States, Russia might likely become the second biggest supplier of heavy crude, Goldwyn said.
The 25% duties are scheduled to be implemented on April 2.
(QG - Source: Newsweek - Image: © Unsplash)