The Ministry of Energy allowed oil prices to rise up to $150 per barrel in case of embargo, and trade turnover between Russia and China increased by almost 29% in three months – these and other important news for Wednesday morning, April 13, in our daily review.

Oil prices may rise to $150 per barrel in the event of a ban on supplies from Russia, but it is not easy to make predictions in the current environment, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.

Trade turnover between Russia and China from January to March increased by 28.7% year-on-year to $38.17 billion, Kommersant reported citing China’s General Administration of Customs. Exports to Russia rose 25.9%, to about $16.44 billion, while imports of Russian goods and services increased 31%, to $21.73 billion.

Foreign online stores have started blocking payments with UnionPay cards issued by Russian banks, Kommersant has found out. In the call centers of the banks that the publication called, they admitted that the impossibility of payment has become a widespread problem. Only a few people have managed to physically use UnionPay cards abroad.

Vitol Group, the largest independent oil trader, plans to stop trading oil and oil products from Russia by the end of the year unless otherwise ordered, a company representative told Bloomberg.

As of today, April 13, Russia has applied for pumping 66.33 million cubic meters of gas through Ukrainian stations Suja and Sokhranivka. This is 11% less than on April 12, Kommersant reports, citing data from the Ukrainian GTS Operator. Gazprom (MCX:GAZP)’s maximum obligations to Ukraine under the contract are about 109.6m cu.m. per day.