G7 finance chiefs advance on Russia’s oil price ceiling plan

Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers are expected to agree on plans on Friday to impose a price cap on Russian oil with the aim of reducing revenues from Moscow’s war in Ukraine but maintaining oil flows. to avoid price spikes, G7 officials said.

Ministers from the group of rich industrial democracies are expected to meet virtually and issue a statement outlining their implementation plans.

“There is likely to be a deal,” a European G7 official said, adding that it was unclear how many details would be revealed, such as the level of the price-per-barrel ceiling above which compliant countries would refuse to insure and finance Russian oil. and cargoes of petroleum products.

Despite falling oil export volumes from Russia, the country’s oil export revenue rose by $700 million in June from May due to high prices from the Ukraine war, the International Energy Agency said last month.

Western leaders agreed in June to explore a cap to restrict how much refiners and traders can pay for Russian oil — a measure Moscow says it will not comply with and may challenge by redirecting crude to states that do not abide by the price cap.

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

wider support

The G7 is made up of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Some bloc officials said the cap needed broader support and questioned whether it could succeed without the participation of major oil consumers China and India, who are unlikely to approve the plan.

But other G7 officials said China and India have expressed an interest in buying Russian oil at an even lower price, according to the ceiling.