Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help prevent evasion of Russian oil price cap sanctions.

The oil sanctions imposed by the UK and its partners, including the oil price cap, are working. Russia's oil revenues fell 25 per-cent year-on-year between January and September 2023, while the cap has also been effectively protecting global oil market security. The UK and our Coalition partners are aware of circumvention risks and employ strategies to minimise them. The UK has placed new sanctions on entities used by Russia to attempt to lessen the impact of our oil sanctions. We also continue to lead active discussions with our partners on the most effective means of continuing to tackle circumvention and increasing Russia's costs in doing so.

The UK has implemented a strong enforcement approach focused on prohibition, with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), HMRC, and the National Crime Agency jointly considering cases which may be appropriate for criminal prosecution. On 12 October, the UK published a joint maritime advisory statement directed at government and private sector actors involved in the trade of Russian crude and refined products. The statement provided recommendations concerning sanctions-compliant practices that reduce exposure to possible circumvention risks.