The International Energy Agency (IEA) found that the mechanism had achieved its objective, ie
reduced Moscow’s revenues and prevented a surge in global oil prices.
According to EU legislation, the goal is to keep the price ceiling 5 percent below the average market price, and in recent months, some member states, including Poland and Estonia, have called for the threshold to be adjusted to a lower level, after
- The weighted average export price of Russian crude was $52.48 per barrel, excluding shipping and insurance costs.
- Russian Ural crude oil, which is the country’s most important export blend, traded at $45.27 per barrel on the Black Sea,
- while varieties such as ESPO, Sakhalin and Sokol, all exported from Asia, traded above the threshold, according to the IEA.
THE
Under the agreed rules, EU and G7 companies can only provide supplies and services, such as insurance, needed to transport Russian oil to third countries around the world if the oil has been purchased at or below the threshold.
Russia is free to ship and sell oil at any price if it does not use the services and ships of the G-7 and the EU, but according to Bloomberg data, Russia still relies on Western insurers to cover more than half of the tanker fleet that exports its oil.
Cover image: Getty Images
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