Russia stopping oil supply to EU by end-2022, after G7 price cap

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VIENNA, 4 Dec 2022:

Moscow will stop supplying oil to Europe this year, following the bloc’s move – alongside the G7 and Australia – to cap the price of Russian seaborne oil, Russia’s representative to international organisations in Vienna said yesterday.

“Starting from this year Europe will live without Russian oil. Moscow has already made it clear that it will NOT supply oil to those countries who support anti-market price cap,” Mikhail Ulyanov wrote on Twitter.

“Very soon the EU will blame Russia for using oil as a weapon,” the Kremlin representative said.

Ulyanov’s statement came in response to Western allies’ decision, announced on Friday, to cap the price of a Russian barrel of seaborne oil to US$60 – as part of a raft of sanctions on Moscow over Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.

The measure, backed by the G7 and Australia, affects Russian oil transported by sea and coincides with an EU-wide embargo on crude imported from Russia – which is to come into force tomorrow (Monday).

“G7 finance ministers agreed to a cap in September as a way of undermining Putin’s ability to fund war in Ukraine through inflated global oil prices, while ensuring that third countries can continue to secure affordable oil,” a statement released by the UK government read.

The OPEC+ alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, is expected to decide later today whether the cartel will readjust production outputs as the oil market faces more turbulence and volatile prices.

The ministerial conference of the group of 23 oil-producing countries will be held remotely with analysts saying the alliance is expected to leave current oil supply levels unchanged.

The same source suggested the cartel would wait to see how things unfold in the coming weeks amid the recently announced cap on Russian oil and an EU-wide embargo.

– EFE