China’s People’s Daily reported that Russia responded harshly to Europe by refusing to cooperate with buyers who decided to join the ceiling price of $60 per barrel for Russian oil.
Decision to impose a ceiling price on Russian oil accepted EU countries, the G7 and Australia, entered into force on 5 December 2022. The ceiling price has been set at $60 per barrel and will be reviewed regularly after January 15. The restrictions will affect a wide range of services related to the transportation of oil by sea. The Kremlin refused to accept the decision of the Western countries. On December 5, the EU embargo on the offshore supply of Russian oil also begins to work. Since February 5, imports of Russian petroleum products have been banned, and price limits have been set for them at the level of 100 dollars and 45 dollars per barrel. Russia introduced Reaction to Western sanctions As of February 1, 2023, Russia began to ban the supply of Russian oil to countries using ceiling prices.
As the People’s Daily wrote, the European Union has been going through “terrible pains” for years to get rid of dependence on Russian oil. The article provides statistics showing this dependency. Last year, Europe imported 220 million barrels of Russian oil, at the beginning of this year this figure has tripled to 600 million barrels.
“Consistently high oil prices inevitably lead to higher prices in Europe, which affects Europeans’ jobs, industrial production and social security,” the article says.
According to preliminary statistics from Eurostat, the annual inflation rate in the euro area in January 2023 was 8.5%. This rate is still well above the 2% target set by the European Central Bank.
The newspaper emphasizes that Europe’s efforts to find alternative oil suppliers have led to an increase in fuel prices in the USA, Middle East and African countries, and that these states’ voices are rising in the international energy market. has increased the costs and burdens of eurozone countries and increased their dependence on suppliers.
only by raising the demand prices of oil producing countries (USA, Middle East and African countries), it strengthened their voices in the international arena and the voices of transit countries such as Turkey. All of these have actually increased the EU’s energy costs and burdens and increased its dependence on foreign energy.
In addition, Russia managed to circumvent the ban on Western oil sanctions.
“Russian diesel fuel is no longer supplied directly to Europe. Instead, India or Saudi Arabia buys oil from Moscow at a discount, processes it in their factories and sells diesel to Europe,” he said.
The Economist writes that the most dangerous consequence of a Russian oil price ceiling is that it accelerates the “disconnection” in the global economy and leads to further declines in living standards. Oil-producing countries will be forced into a political game that will lead to many obstacles to free trade.