G7 agree on Russian oil price cap to deplete Moscow’s war chest
Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven advanced economies agreed Friday to cap Russian oil prices in their latest effort to squeeze Moscow’s revenues for its war in Ukraine while preventing global energy prices from surging by keeping crude flowing.
The measure will take effect on Dec 5 for crude oil and Feb 5 for petroleum products, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki told reporters after the virtual meeting that also involved Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United States, plus the European Union.
The initial price cap will be set “at a level based on a range of technical inputs,” the G7 finance chiefs said in a statement, noting that its impact will be closely monitored and the price level will be revisited as necessary.
“I stressed the importance of the G7 forming a united front in resolutely coping with Russia,” Suzuki said, adding that Japan remains committed to phasing out Russian imports as pledged.
While the exact price has yet to be determined, oil from the Sakhalin 2 energy project involving Japan will be excluded from the cap, a senior Japanese Finance Ministry official said.
Under the envisioned mechanism, the provision of services which enable maritime transportation of Russian crude oil and petroleum products would only be allowed if the products are purchased “at or below a price determined by the broad coalition of countries adhering to and implementing the price cap,” according to the G7 statement.
The G7 also called on other countries to join the move to maximize the effectiveness of the price cap, apparently taking into consideration that countries which have close ties with Moscow, notably China and India, have continued to import Russian oil.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, the price cap will help maintain supplies to global energy markets by keeping Russian oil flowing at lower prices and will be “one of the most powerful tools” to fight inflation and protect businesses in the United States and globally from future price spikes caused by global disruptions.
The G7 has been seeking to impose “severe and immediate costs” on Russia to end its war that began in late February. The group of major developed countries is reducing its dependence on Russian energy as part of its sanctions against Moscow.
The sanctions include a U.S. embargo on Russian oil imports and a phase-out by the European Union and Japan.
Russia is among the top three oil producers, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States. Before the war began, it accounted for around 3.6 percent of total Japanese oil imports last year, according to government data.
The G7 has imposed a slew of punitive steps against Russia, including a freeze on assets held by President Vladimir Putin and the exclusion of Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment network.
The G7’s expansion of its sanctions regime to the energy sector marked a significant step, given that Russia is a major supplier of crude oil and natural gas to Europe.