United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has criticized Ukraine over its actions against Russian energy facilities, stating that strikes on energy infrastructure are driving up global energy prices.
Speaking in an interview with the American cable television channel Fox News, Bessent said the world is currently experiencing an energy shock caused in part by the war in Ukraine, after Ukrainian forces chose to target Russian energy assets and refining capacity.
Bessent explained that attacks on Russian energy processing capacity have created global price pressure across energy markets. He added that the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran is also contributing to rising energy costs, but expressed confidence that prices will fall once that confrontation ends, noting that energy prices are already moving downward overall.
Rising freight costs for Russian crude
The United States Department of the Treasury is the executive cabinet department responsible for managing federal finances and economic policy, while Fox News is a major national cable news network based in the United States. Bessent's statements follow reports that freight rates for transporting Russian crude oil reached historic peaks during the previous month.
In August, the cost of shipping Russian Urals crude oil from ports in the western part of the country soared to its highest level in recent years. Urals crude is Russia's primary export grade of crude oil, which is shipped via western maritime outlets to international buyers.
Black Sea shipping disruptions
The sharp increase in transport costs was primarily triggered by drone attacks targeting commercial vessels in the Black Sea, a strategic body of water located between Eastern Europe and Western Asia that serves as a vital corridor for international merchant shipping.
Due to the drone attacks, crude oil loading operations in Novorossiysk were repeatedly forced to stop. Novorossiysk is a major Russian seaport and commercial shipping hub situated on the Black Sea coast that handles high volumes of crude oil exports. The resulting operational halts have significantly increased financial and safety risks for shipowners operating in the region.
