Why the West’s oil sanctions on Russia are proving to be underwhelming

In december the West took aim at Russian oil revenues, unleashing the biggest package of energy sanctions ever imposed on a single country. Europe, which had been a big buyer of Russian seaborne crude, banned imports of the stuff. It also barred its long-dominant shippers, lenders and insurers from facilitating the sale of Russian crude to other buyers—unless the oil was sold below a “price cap” of $60 a barrel set by the West.