NEW: The US and Europe committed to remove some Russian banks from SWIFT, isolating the nation from global financial channels
🇺🇸 🇪🇺 💥 🇷🇺

🚨 Europe uses SWIFT to send payments for Russian natural gas, so a ban may significantly disrupt supplies

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-26/eu-u-s-agree-to-disconnect-some-russian-banks-from-swift

My colleague @JavierBlas makes a good point that might be exemptions just for Russian oil and gas payments

It’s still early and details are scant, but removing Europe’s ability to pay for gas could trigger a global price surge

There is only so much spare LNG, and global competition for spot cargoes has already been pretty fierce

China, Japan, Korea are eager to refill stockpiles

Another update:

(It’s still unclear the exact impact any of this will have on gas/oil deliveries)

Looks like US/EU will specifically target Russian institutions so it won’t have a big impact on energy payments

US official says looking for ways to exempt certain institutions that conduct most energy transactions

📌 RECAP: It seems that the US/EU are aiming to remove some Russian institution from SWIFT, but they are still looking for the ban to have a minimal impact on flows of oil and natural gas

(Still, things are moving fast)

There isn’t any indication that the ban will affect institutions like Gazprombank, which facilitates payments for Russian energy exports