Our next report looks at how, in a long awaited response to a Western price cap, the Russian president has signed a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products to nations that impose the cap in retaliation against a price cap on its oil imposed by Western countries.
Russia says it will ban oil sales to states that stick to a price cap imposed by west countries. The retaliatory measure was decreed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. It was presented as a direct response to what Moscow called actions that were unfriendly and contradictory to international law. The Kremlin ban would stop crude oil sales to countries taking part in the price cap from February 1 to July 1, 2023. A separate ban on refined oil products like gasoline and diesel would also take effect on a date to be set by the government. The Kremlin said Wednesday it did not consult with the OPEC Plus group of leading global oil producers on the issue. The price cap on Russian oil was imposed earlier this month and aims to cripple Moscow's military efforts in Ukraine. It means oil traders who want to keep access to Western financing must promise not to pay above $60 per barrel for Russian seaborne oil. That is far below the prices at which Russia could sell oil for much of the past year. Russia is the world's second-largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. Oil prices fell on Wednesday as investors grew more worried over how the health crisis in China could hurt the country's economic recovery. Chinese hospice also been under intense pressure as the country changes its approach to the global health crisis.
