"BRUSSELS — European Union
negotiators reached an agreement late Tuesday on capping the price of Russian
oil as part of a fresh package of sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow, several
diplomats involved in the talks said.
Greece, Malta and Cyprus — maritime
nations that would be most affected by the cap — received assurances that their
business interests would be preserved, the diplomats said. The countries had
been holding up what would be the eighth sanctions package the European Union
has adopted since the start of the year because of worries that a price cap on
Russian oil exported outside the bloc would affect their shipping, insurance
and other industries, the diplomats said.
With oil prices at a high, Russia is raking in billions of
dollars in revenue, even as it sells smaller quantities. The cap — part of a
broad plan pushed by the Biden administration that the Group of 7 nations agreed to last
month — is intended to set the price of Russian oil lower than where it is
today, but still above cost. The U.S. Treasury calculates that the cap would
deprive the Kremlin of tens of billions of dollars annually.
The E.U. oil price cap is only one piece of a complex global
puzzle. To make the measure effective, and cut Russian revenue, the United
States, Europe and their allies would need to convince India and China, which
buy substantial quantities of Russian oil, only to purchase it at the agreed
upon price. Experts say that even with willing partners, the cap could be hard to implement.
OPEC Plus, the oil production group led by Saudi Arabia, is
another complicating factor. The group is expected to announce a cut in output on Wednesday, a move
aimed at keeping the price of crude worldwide higher.
The E.U. sanctions package is set to
go through the final approval process on Wednesday and is not expected to
change substantially.
Under the new rules, companies involved in the shipping of
Russian oil — including shipowners, insurers and underwriters — would be on the
hook for ensuring that the oil they are helping to transport is being sold at
or below the price cap. If they are caught helping Russia sell at a higher
price, they could face lawsuits in their home countries for violating
sanctions.
Russian crude will come under an
embargo in most of the European Union on Dec. 5, and petroleum products will
follow in February. The price cap on shipments to non-E.U. countries has long
been championed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet
Yellen as a necessary complement to the European oil embargo.
Under the E.U. deal, Greece, Malta
and Cyprus will be permitted to continue shipping Russian oil. Had they not
agreed to place their companies at the forefront of applying the price cap,
they would have been forbidden from shipping or insuring Russian oil cargo
outside the European Union, a huge hit for major industries.
More than half of the tankers now shipping Russia’s oil are
Greek-owned. And the financial services that underpin that trade — including
insurance, reinsurance and letters of credit — are overwhelmingly based in the
European Union and Britain.
The G7 nations championed the price
cap at the United States’ behest. Its member nations that do not belong to the
European Union — the United States, Britain, Canada and Japan — are expected to
enact laws similar to the European Union’s to enforce it.
The E.U. sanctions document foresees
that the European Union, along with the G7 countries and their partners that
agree to the price cap, form a committee to decide what price Russian oil
should be sold at. The committee would meet regularly, and the price would
change based on the market price."
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/05/world/russia-ukraine-war-news
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