The finance ministers of the G7 (G7) countries have agreed on a plan to limit the price of Russian oil, Reuters reported, citing the accepted statement. We are talking about a “broad international coalition” and a ban on the provision of any services for the maritime transport of Russian oil, if its cost is higher than the ceiling agreed by the coalition.
We reaffirm our common political intention to finalize and implement a comprehensive global ban on maritime transport services for crude oil and oil products of Russian origin. “The provision of such services will only be permitted if oil is purchased at or below a ceiling price set by a broad coalition of states willing to agree to the price cap,” the G7 said in a statement.
The ceiling price initially selected based on technical data may be revised later.
“The safety price will be disclosed to the public in an open and transparent manner. “The effectiveness and impact of the restrictions will be closely monitored,” the G7 said.
The G7 countries will also develop mechanisms to mitigate the consequences of the most vulnerable countries without access to energy resources, including the Russians.
In the statement, it was emphasized that the main purpose of introducing a ceiling price would be to “reduce Russia’s income and its ability to finance a special operation in Ukraine”, and therefore absolutely all countries are invited to contribute to the establishment of a new mechanism.
“We aim to form a broad coalition to achieve maximum effect, and we invite all countries wishing to import Russian oil and oil products to purchase them only below the ceiling price.
We reaffirm our intention to remove Russian oil and oil products from our domestic markets and emphasize that the measure of a price ceiling should relieve the pressure on the world oil markets.”
US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland previously emphasized that prices could skyrocket if imports of Russian raw materials are banned altogether. In this case, Moscow will be able to make money by selling oil to other countries – India or China – but the price ceiling will not allow oil to be sold at a higher price than the established price.
“Total bullshit”
Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Novak said a day ago that Russia will stop supplying oil and petroleum products to countries that will impose a ceiling price on them.
In his view, any attempt to restrict Russian oil is “absolute nonsense” and “interference in the market mechanisms of the industry”.
He stressed that not a single country in OPEC+, as well as China and India, support this idea.
“We haven’t heard at least one positive response about this bullshit being discussed from other oil producers in the market,” Novak said.
From 5 December, as part of the sixth EU sanctions package, the ban on the purchase of Russian oil by sea, as well as the purchase of petroleum products by EU countries, will begin to apply from 5 February 2023.