The US is continuing to slap sanctions on ships and companies facilitating sales of Iranian oil for the benefit of the regime’s armed forces. Almost 30 vessels have been targeted by Ofac since the year began

Scrutiny of Iran’s sanctioned energy trade tends to centre on the oil exports and the dark fleet servicing it. However, robust Chinese demand, coupled with growing Iranian output and deep discounts have propelled Iran’s liquid petroleum gas exports far above pre-sanctions levels, helped by a growing fleet of ageing gas carriers

Move will facilitate imports of crude in face of Western price cap

Deepening diplomatic ties between Russia and North Korea has increased clandestine maritime oil-for-arms trades between the two states, but that comes as Russia is seeking to end UN scrutiny of sanctions compliance and illicit maritime activity

A bill that calls for the imposition of sanctions on ports, vessels, shipping companies and refineries that knowingly process or carry Iranian oil or productions passed the US House of Representatives on Saturday and will likely be signed into law this week

The general cargoship diverted to Rostock after a propeller malfunction and was held by German authorities investigating the cargo of wood it was carrying from Russia to Baltimore

Ofac says SCG Plastics caused US financial institutions to unknowingly process $300m in sales of Iranian high-density polyethylene resin by falsifying shipping documents, with the settlement underscoring the agency’s intent to penalise companies that conceal such activity by sanctioned entities

Sanctions are a key tool for Western governments to damage Russia’s economy. The US has been actively targeting ships and, while this successfully forces changes in behaviour, many vessels are still able to do business freely, thereby revealing the limits of these restrictions

Venezuelan crude exports, which previously went to India, could head to China instead. Product imports that previously came from the US will be sourced from Russia or Iran. While US product exports, which previously went to Venezuela, could go to Brazil and Mexico

Sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas sector will resume on Thursday after the US chose not to renew a licence issued in October. The US has repeatedly warned it will let the measure expire unless president Nicolas Maduro delivers on his end of an electoral agreement road map signed in October

Aframax tanker Osperous sailed through Danish Straits on April 3, nearly three months after it was sanctioned for breaching the G7 oil price cap on Russia, with class surveys overdue and expired class certificates

The detained Atlantic Navigator II shows what happens when sanctions clash