EU agrees on price cap for Russian oil products

by time news

Dhe EU member states agreed on price caps for Russian oil products on Friday. “The EU ambassadors today approved the price caps for petroleum products – ahead of their final adoption by the European Council,” the Swedish EU Council Presidency said on Twitter. According to EU diplomats, the price caps are 100 US dollars per barrel (159 liters) for fuels such as diesel or kerosene and 45 dollars per barrel for products such as heating oil.

It is an “important agreement as part of the (…) reaction of the EU and its partners to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine,” said the Swedish Council Presidency.

The price caps apply to processed Russian oil products such as diesel and heating oil transported on EU ships and are due to come into effect on Sunday. The agreed upper limits correspond to a proposal by the European Commission and are intended to limit Russia’s revenues and thus its ability to finance the war in Ukraine.

At the beginning of December, the EU, the seven major industrialized countries (G7) and Australia imposed a cap on Russian crude oil of $60 per barrel. They use ship transport as a lever: companies from these countries are prohibited from transporting Russian oil and from Sunday also oil products or from insuring tankers that have products on board at prices above the agreed limits.

G7 and Australia also agree on price caps

On Friday, the President of the Commission said the EU was preparing a new package of sanctions against Russia – the tenth since the war began almost a year ago. “We must continue to deprive Russia of the resources it needs to wage war against Ukraine,” von der Leyen said. According to the assessment of the EU Commission President, the existing upper price limit for Russian oil is already costing Moscow around 160 million euros a day.

After the EU member states, the G7 states and Australia have also agreed on upper price limits for Russian oil products. The group of large industrialized countries and Australia on Friday set price caps of $100 a barrel (159 litres) for fuels such as diesel and $45 a barrel for products such as heating oil, according to a joint statement.

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