In every market there is the unregulated market or black market. The goods are inexpensive, but they likely did not pass through normal channels and normal government regulations. For the sellers, higher margins are possible if the goods are sold. There is an age old saying of Buyer Beware, but if the price is low enough, people can rationalize or overlook the normal channels.

In an article by Aaron Krolik of the New York Times News Service, in the oil tanker business, a tanker of oil sold is a tanker of oil sold. Some governments will put sanctions on producing countries to try to disrupt them and for the country to bring in less money. If the government behaves better, the sanctions can come off.

In the oil tanker industry, both Russia and Iran have been sanctioned by countries for some time and they had to resort to the shadow fleet of oil tankers to improve their sales. The tankers are carrying oil for one of the countries and until it is sold sort of drift around the world hanging near potential customers.

The countries which imposed sanctions have a moral high ground and cannot buy the sanctioned oil. Before the war, the US Justice Department tries to seize funds tied to the shadow fleet and arrest Mohammad Hoessein Shamkhani who is one of the leaders of the Shadow Fleet.

Then came the war involving the US and Iran, one of the many consequences is the price of oil has gone up. The US has done a flip-flow on the Shadow Fleet, even if it is temporary. The US has taken off the sanctions connected to the Shadow Fleet so oil would be used and possibly go down.

Robert Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, noted anything that destigmatizes this fleet is a big win for Russia and Iran.

An analysis of sanctions data found that the US had blocked nearly 1,000 vessels under sanctions programs connected to Russia and Iran.

Ships can turn huge profits by buying Russian and Iranian oil at a discount and selling it to countries such as China at full price.

According to Michelle Weise Bockmann, a maritime analyst at Windward, a industry analytics firm and Vortexa, a cargo tracking firm, the waiver the US has agreed to enter into covers more than 370 tankers carrying as much as 215 million barrels of Russian oil either on the oceans or in floating storage.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, politics starts with principles, but because it needs to appeal to a vast array of people, the principles often do not last long. One can imagine an entire group of people dedicated to the sanction’s effort and with a political remark they work means little for now. One can imagine that the owners of the Shadow Fleet will be richer and be legitimate for the next little while. One can imagine that companies that tried to do the right thing most of the time are wondering what if we slipped a bit, would we be better off?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.