Congress demands that Biden hit another sector of Russia.

A bipartisan coalition in the U.S. Congress has called on President Joe Biden's administration to toughen sanctions against the Russian oil services industry.

Lawmakers expressed the opinion that current measures allow the American company SLB to support the military machine of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Moreover, the U.S. Congress demands that the Treasury and State Department explain why SLB imported equipment worth $17.5 million to Russia from August to December 2023 despite sanctions.

This statement followed an investigation by the Financial Times, which found that SLB continues to expand its activities in the Russian market after the departure of other Western competitors.

At the same time, legislators emphasized that SLB, the world's largest oil services company, contributes to financing the Russian army. In connection with this, they demand tougher sanctions to limit Putin's income.

It should be noted that as of now, the State Department and SLB have not provided comments, but the U.S. Treasury has confirmed that it continues to use all tools to reduce Kremlin revenues.

The publication also notes that on Friday SLB reported a 13% increase in profit in the third quarter.

Attention is also drawn to the fact that SLB has previously faced sanctions from the U.S. In particular, in 2015, the company pleaded guilty to federal charges and paid $232 million for involvement in trade with Iran and Sudan. In 2021, its American subsidiary Cameron International Corporation agreed to pay $1.4 million to the U.S. Treasury to settle "apparent violations" related to providing services to the Russian company "Gazprom Neft Shelf" for an Arctic oil project.