G7 countries and its allies officially approved the ceiling of Russian oil prices. This happened immediately after the European Union agreed that the ceiling will be the price of $ 60, BBC reports.
The joint statement of the G7 and Australia says that the restriction will enter into force on December 5 or “very soon after that.”
The decision was made to “prevent Russia from getting benefits from its aggressive war against Ukraine,” the statement said, but at the same time aimed at “supporting the stability of world energy markets” and “minimizing the negative economic consequences of the Russian invasion.
On Friday, Russian oil of the Urals brand traded $ 64 per barrel. US Finance Minister Janet Yellen said that countries with low and average income, which have suffered greatly from high energy prices and products, especially benefit from restrictions. In addition, according to her, the ceiling of oil prices will limit the financial capabilities of Russia, which President Vladimir Putin uses to finance his cruel invasion.
Earlier, the Russian authorities said that they would not sell oil to countries that would support restrictions. India and China have not yet said that they would follow them, notes Financial Times.
The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the day before said that Moscow is not interested in what restrictions on Russian oil will be, since Russia will be directly negotiated with partners.
“now Russia supplies approximately 3.5 million barrels per day, and a complete western embargo can reduce these supplies by about a third, not only to the countries of the” large seven “. Because the ban concerns not only and not so much the procurement of oil and the purchase of oil and Oil products in Russia, how much transport, financing and insurance of any supplies by sea to any countries. Russia will not be able to instantly find an alternative to London insurers, Swiss traders and Greek tankers, which will inevitably affect the volume of exports, and later oil production in the country. As a result, by 2030, the share of Russia in the global energy market will be reduced to about 13% from last year’s 20%. According to the forecast of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United States and the Middle East will win, and the Kremlin will not read about 1 trillion dollars of export revenues, ”writes BBC.
In addition, on December 5, another penalty measure of the European Union in relation to Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine comes into force: an oil embargo. The ban applies to sea supplies, while the Friendship oil pipeline does not fall under it: Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will temporarily continue to use it. Thus, the volume of Russian oil supplied to the EU will decrease by 90 percent overnight, DEUTSCHE WELLE reports.