Can Putin build ‘dark fleet capacity’ to game EU oil price cap?

Russian oil exports are likely to decrease when the European Union bans seaborne imports but the size of the dark fleet willing to carry sanctioned oil is key to the scale of that decline, say analysts.

Russia’s crude and products exports are expected to drop after the EU imposes seaborne import bans from December — but for how long depends on factors including the effectiveness of the EU’s insurance ban, tonnage available to Russia and the oil price cap, said cargo data analyst Vortexa.