On Friday, the US Treasury Department announced the US-led coalition seeking to impose price caps on Russian energy exports will impose two different price caps on Russian oil products according to their categorization.
According to the Treasury Department’s official statement on the matter, which was released after a meeting between Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, the deputy ministers of various G7 countries, EU member nations, and Australia, in March the coalition will also review the price cap already in place on Russian crude oil which went into effect last month.
The statement said, “The Deputies agreed to an approach for refined products that will institute two distinct caps, in addition to the crude cap: one cap for products that generally trade at a premium to crude, such as diesel or gasoil, and one for products that trade at a discount to crude, such as fuel oil. The Deputies agreed that this approach will better calibrate the price cap policy for refined products, given the wide range of market prices at which these products trade.”
The coalition introduced a price cap on Russian seaborne crude exports in December. It banned Western companies from providing shipping insurance and other shipping services to any cargo ships carrying Russian crude oil shipments which sold for a price higher than the price cap, which had been set at $60 per barrel. A further price cap on all Russian oil products is now set to go into effect on February 5th.
Russia has opposed all efforts to impose a price cap on their crude and oil products, noting they will not engage in any sales with any nation which seeks to impose the cap. President Vladimir Putin signed a Presidential decree forbidding delivery of any oil product to any nation which even mentions the price cap in any sales contract for Russian crude oil or oil products.