Urals Crude Price Slump - A Disaster for Putin's War Machine and Regime

2025-11-22 | Silicon Wafers DAILY UPDATE 064 | Putin’s ship has been taking on water for some time but has now hit an iceberg – it’s called thirty-six dollars a barrel of Urals crude oil. Russia’s flagship Urals crude has collapsed to its lowest price since early 2023 – just as U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, the two giants of Putin’s oil empire, are about to fully bite. India and China are backing away. Tankers full of Russian crude are circling with nowhere to go. And suddenly, “sanctions don’t work” sounds a lot less clever on social media than it did six months ago. (United24 Media)Let’s unpack how we got to $36 Urals, what it means for Russia’s war machine, and why this looks less like a market blip and more like the first real oil-squeeze not only of the war, but of Putin’s time in power. ----------SOURCES: United24 Media – “Russia’s Urals Oil Crashes to 2.5-Year Low as Global Buyers Pull Back Ahead of US Sanctions” (Nov. 17, 2025)Kyiv Independent – “Russia's flagship oil price drops as buyers retreat ahead of US sanctions” (Nov. 17, 2025)The Moscow Times – “Russian Oil Revenues Slide to 2.5-Year Low as Sanctions Drive Asian Buyers Away” (Nov. 19, 2025)The Moscow Times – “What New U.S. Sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil Mean for Russia’s Oil Trade” (Oct. 28, 2025)U.S. Department of the Treasury – “Treasury Sanctions Major Russian Oil Companies, Calls on Moscow to Immediately Agree to Ceasefire” (Press release, Oct. 22, 2025)Reuters – coverage on Chinese and Indian banks/refiners moving to comply with sanctions and on widening Urals discounts and stranded cargoes (Nov. 2025)AP / Associated Press – reports on U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and Lukoil’s decision to sell international assets (Oct.–Nov. 2025)Economic Times / Business Standard – “US sanctions on Russian oil set to kick in with 48 million barrels of crude at sea” (Nov. 21, 2025)IntelliNews – “How oil price discounts became a barometer of the sanctions’ effectiveness” (Nov. 2025)Chatham House – “Tightening the oil-price cap to increase the pressure on Russia” (Sept. 4, 2025)CEPA – “Europe Moves Toward Shadow Fleet Seizures” (Sept. 26, 2025)EU Commission – Press materials on the 18th and 19th sanctions packages targeting Russia’s shadow fleet and LNG (July & Oct. 2025)----------SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISERA project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain----------