A Russian oil and gas field, the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye Field located in the Sea of Okhotsk, has been added to the U.S. Sanctioned Entity List / Photo from flickr.com/photos/callmewhatever
The United States on August 7, 2015, issued a final rule to amend the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to further implement U.S. sanctions on certain Russian energy projects, according to the Federal Register, the U.S. government's daily journal.
"Specifically, in this rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amends the EAR by adding a Russian oil and gas field, the Yuzhno-Kirinskoye Field located in the Sea of Okhotsk, to the Entity List," the Federal Register reported.
This Russian field is reported to contain substantial reserves of oil in addition to reserves of gas.
"The U.S. Government has determined, therefore, that exports, reexports, and transfers (in-country) of all items subject to the EAR to this Russian field by any person without first obtaining a BIS license present an unacceptable risk of use in, or diversion to, the activities specified in the Russian industry sector sanctions," the report reads.
Thus, as part of the BIS "is informed" process, this final rule adds this Russian field to the Entity List to further implement the Russian industry sector sanctions.
The U.S. has already introduced several packages of economic sanctions against Russia for the occupation of the Ukrainian Crimea, the declaration of its annexation and Russian aggression in Ukraine's east. They include both industry sector sanctions and sanctions against certain individuals and entities.
Similar sanctions were introduced by the European Union and a number of individual countries.