Uncertainty in Crude Oil Markets: Russia's demand of payments in roubles makes matters worse!
No sooner had the West and its staunch allies imposed crippling sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine than the latter published a list of 'unfriendly' countries. They include the European Union, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Singapore and of course, the US. Having endured the impact of the sanctions for a few weeks, Russia seems to have decided to hit back without resorting to the worst case scenario that the most Europeans feared in retaliation - completely cutting off the gas supply to the European states. Although European winter is now over, such a move a few weeks ago would have been disastrous for the Europeans, as the tail end of the winter is always very cold in the region. Instead of going for the much dreaded 'nuclear option', Russia seems to be determined to adopt a 'milder' form of retaliation; it wants the unfriendly nations to pay for gas in its national currency, roubles - not in euros or US dollars; Russia says it wi