G7 poised to agree plan to impose price cap on Russian oil

Janet Yellen Nadhim Zahawi Karine Jean-Pierre Usa Britain Japan Germany Washington Italy France Canada Russia Ukraine city Moscow city Washington UPS

02.09.2022 - 16:49

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theguardian.com:

G7 finance ministers are expected to firm up plans on Friday to impose a price cap on Russian oil aimed at slashing revenues for Moscow’s war in Ukraine but keeping crude flowing to avoid price rises, officials said.

The ministers from the club of wealthy industrial democracies are due to meet virtually and are likely to issue a communique that lays out their implementation plans.

“A deal is likely,” a European G7 official said, adding that it was unclear how much detail would be revealed, such as the per-barrel level of the price cap, above which complying countries would refuse insurance and finance to Russian crude and oil product cargoes.

The UK chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, said on Thursday in Washington he was hopeful that G7 finance ministers would “have a statement that will mean that we can move forward at pace to deliver this”.

He told a thinktank event in Washington a day after discussing the cap with the US Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen: “We want to get this oil price cap over the line.”

Despite Russia’s falling oil export volumes, its oil export revenue in June increased by $700m (£606m) from May because of prices pushed higher by its war in Ukraine, the International Energy Agency said last month.

Western leaders agreed in June to explore a cap to limit how much refiners and traders can pay for Russian crude – a move Moscow says it will not abide by and can thwart by shipping oil to states not obeying the price ceiling.

The White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the G7’s plans for the price cap, saying she did not want “to get ahead of that meeting”.

The G7 consists of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US. Some officials in the bloc have said that the cap needs