What's the significance of US sanctions on Russian oil?

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Rosneft oilUS President Donald Trump has announced what he called "tremendous" new sanctions against two of Russia's largest oil companies, in a bid to pressure Moscow into ending its war on Ukraine.

The measures target Rosneft and Lukoil - two major oil corporations that help fund the Kremlin's "war machine", according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

They represent the first direct interventions the Trump administration has imposed on Russia over its invasion, and have therefore been viewed as a geopolitically significant moment.

The sanctions, imposed by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), effectively blacklist Russia's two largest oil producers.

Rosneft, a state-controlled company headed by Russian President Vladimir Putin's close ally Igor Sechin, and Lukoil, a privately owned firm, account for nearly half of the nation's total crude-oil exports, according to Bloomberg estimates.

Between them, the two corporations export 3.1 million barrels of oil per day.

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