US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's announcement that he would consider sanctioning oil supplies from Russia has pushed oil prices to a 12-year high.

The price for a barrel (159 liters) of North Sea Brent rose by up to almost 18 percent to $139.13 in early trading on Monday.

The record level of almost 150 dollars from the summer of 2008 is therefore not too far away.

Blinken said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that the US would analyze a ban in "active talks" with its European partners.

Winand von Petersdorff-Campen

Economic correspondent in Washington.

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Henrik Kafsack

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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Jan Hauser

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Christian Siedenbiedel

Editor in Business.

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Christian Geinitz

Business correspondent in Berlin

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), however, opposes an import ban.

Europe's energy supply cannot be secured in any other way at the moment, said Scholz.

Europe "deliberately" exempted energy supplies from Russia from sanctions.

"All our steps are designed in such a way that they hit Russia hard and are sustainable in the long term."

Oil sanctions are now being examined because the previous sanctions leave loopholes for Russia, do not stop the Russian advance and, given the images from Ukraine, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the West to justify buying up energy commodities to fill the Russian war chest.

Frontline states are also building up pressure: Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said the imports financed the Russian military operation.

"We must not pay for oil and gas with the blood of Ukraine."

Can Venezuela and Saudi Arabia step in?

An oil embargo would hit Russia harder than a gas freeze.

In 2021, the country exported around $180 billion in oil and petroleum products and $60 billion in gas.

In the Russian state budget, tax and customs revenues are five times higher than revenues from gas exports.

In total, a third of Russia's budget is covered by proceeds from oil and gas exports.

Moreover, an oil ban would be easier for the European economy to cope with than a gas embargo, said the Viennese economist Gabriel Felbermayr.

The global oil market ensures that the burden is less unequally distributed.

However, the effectiveness of an oil embargo depends on the agreement of potential buyers.

Felbermayr fears that Russian oil could flow to China and India.

"Here the West has to work with secondary sanctions, as was already done in the case of Iran, partly to Europe's annoyance." However, so far only the United States has made use of the means of secondary sanctions.

This sanctions countries that do business with banned countries.

Röttgen: "Financially dry up"

The European Union is working flat out on a fourth package of sanctions, but an oil embargo is not part of it, according to Brussels.

Rather, on the list is a freeze on Belarus' central bank reserves and further action against Russian state-owned companies.

Diplomats say the EU has agreed with Washington that it will initially refrain from an oil embargo.

If the USA, Japan, Canada and the EU imposed an embargo at the same time, the oil price would come under enormous pressure.

In addition, this could lead to the collapse of entire countries in Asia, Africa and South America.