On Jan. 10 the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 161 tankers and traders involved in about 2,000 shipments since the invasion began. It also acted against Moscow-based ship insurers and two companies — Surgutneftgas and Gazpromneft — which in the first 10 months of last year accounted for almost 30% of Russia’s oil exports.

Six Russian oil tankers still under construction by Russia's Zvezda shipyard were included in U.S. sanctions imposed last week, the first time Washington is known to have banned tankers before they even set sail,