Russian oil and gas embargo could hit UK economy

According to Britain's chancellor, a EU embargo on Russian oil and gas would send economic shockwaves throughout Europe and cause at least $90bn of damage to the British economy.

The warning came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Western allies to follow the lead of the UK and US and ban imports of Russian hydrocarbons. A little earlier, in March, the UK announced that by the end of 2022, it would cut Russian oil imports accounting for about 8% of all imports.

Last week, Johnson visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with a view to looking for alternative supplies. However, according to a Wall Street Journal report, the meeting was not fruitful. Saudi officials said that Britain's Prime Minister had left Riyadh with nothing.

The US has also banned Russian oil and gas products and is currently looking for alternatives, turning to Venezuela promising sanctions relief in exchange for oil supplies.

Meanwhile, the EU has taken a more cautious approach on oil and gas sanctions due to its dependency on Russian commodities. Russia supplies about 40 percent of the EU's imported gas and a quarter of its crude oil.

However, according to Rishi Sunak, an immediate total EU ban would tip economies across Europe into recession, including the UK, which is no longer part of the EU. He estimated it would result in a hit of between $92bn and $98.7bn to the British economy (£70-75bn) - the equivalent of about 3 percent of Britain's gross domestic product.