Russia's vast Arctic oil business is facing major disruption from U.S. sanctions on its tankers and depots, stranding crude supplies previously snapped up by Asian buyers in storage, according to three sources familiar with its logistics.

It remains to be seen how the incoming Trump administration will handle enforcement.

On Jan. 10, the U.S. Treasury announced fresh measures to deplete Russia's energy revenues, including on 183 vessels, largely oil tankers.

Oil prices fell back slightly on Thursday, a day after settling at multi-month highs on U.S. President Joe Biden's latest sanctions targeting Russia and a larger than forecast fall in U.S. crude stocks.

The cost of transporting Russian oil through the "shadow fleet" has tripled following the latest American sanctions package, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Experts believe prices will continue to increase.

Russian seaborne oil exports may decrease in the coming weeks after the United States imposed sanctions on two of Russia’s largest exporters and about 160 tankers in the shadow fleet, Bloomberg reports.

Oil prices on the New York fuel exchange remain high due to concerns about threats to the global supply of this resource, with U.S. oil reserves experiencing the longest series of declines since 2021,