Processed Russian Oil Products: Sanctions

Lord Hunt of Wirral Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Lords Chamber

As a result of all the measures that we have taken, there will be less Russian oil on the market, not more, Russia will be poorer, not richer, and Putin will be weaker, not stronger”.

[Lord Hunt of Wirral (Con)]

My Lords, the Minister may not have been in the Chamber earlier, but I hope she has been made aware of the concerns expressed by the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, and my noble friend Lord Gove about the fact that the Government are now permitting the importation of Russian-derived oil products into the United Kingdom. I quoted the Ukraine sanctions commissioner directly. He said that, in his view, the Government’s action

“may still generate additional revenues for Russia’s war machine”.

It would be helpful to know what the Minister’s response is to that commissioner. Simultaneously, the Government are also blocking new North Sea oil and gas licences on our own doorstep. With thousands of skilled jobs, billions in tax revenues and our national security all hanging in the balance, will the Minister explain to this House why the Government’s energy policy is rendering this country more exposed, not less, to hostile foreign actors and volatile global markets?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business and Trade and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)]

My Lords, I want to make it clear that our sanctions regime against Russia is tougher today than it was last week. It is categorically not the case that we are waiving or easing sanctions. On 19 May the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office laid the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations to legislate for several key measures to continue to tighten our pressure on Putin’s regime. These regulations include a new maritime services ban on Russian liquefied natural gas, which will restrict Russia’s access to the UK’s world-leading shipping and insurance services, disrupting its ability to transport Russian LNG. It further includes export prohibitions against Russia, as well as new import prohibitions to restrict the transfer of any refined oil products derived from Russian crude oil and of the import of Russian uranium. As has regularly been the case for sanctions on Russia for several years, targeted short-term licences have been introduced for our LNG maritime services ban and the refined oil import ban in order to support flexibility in UK supply in global markets.

We have made it clear here, and the Minister for Trade made it clear in the House yesterday, that these licences are temporary, will be reviewed regularly and are not intended to protect Russian interests. The sanctions regime today is tougher than it was last week. In respect of the lessons of this crisis for energy security and for the UK’s reliance on foreign fossil fuels, the lesson that we are taking is that we need more homegrown renewable and nuclear energy. We need to continue the decarbonisation so that, for example, with the transition to electric vehicles, we are less reliant on overseas imports of energy.