The European ban on the import of most crude oil from Russia will come into force in December. EU leaders were next tasked with finding new sources of crude oil ahead of a very dark and cold winter, Oilprice.com reported.

EU leaders have stepped up efforts to switch from Russian energy to other energy-rich countries, although they may find it difficult to increase energy imports because of limited spare capacity around the world.

Monica Malik, chief economist at the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said the Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates will not be able to increase production to replace Russian oil in Europe.

After all, the world is heading toward a much tighter oil market before the end of the year following OPEC+ cuts. This could inadvertently trigger a super-cycle in pricing as Brent crude approaches $100 a barrel.

Without reserve capacity, EU leaders will find it difficult to produce oil around the world because production cannot be ramped up quickly.

One senior EU diplomat noted that their prosperity is based on cheap energy coming from Russia.

Europe's energy security is in dire straits as the cold season approaches. The problem with limited global capacity and higher energy costs only strains Europe to the core. This winter, there are risks of blackouts across the bloc due to reduced energy supplies from Russia and the inability to quickly increase imports from abroad. The UK warned of this scenario a few days ago.