News from the Financial Associated Press on December 7 (edited by Shi Zhengcheng)As Biden led a group of allies to play the “Russian oil price limit” card, the focus of the global market quickly turned to Russia’s countermeasures.
The G7 member countries and Australia jointly announced last Friday that they will impose a price limit of US$60 per barrel on Russian seaborne crude oil starting this Monday. The shipping, insurance and banking industries of these countries are allowed to service Russian oil exports only below this price. For this move, Russia has repeatedly stressed that it will not provide crude oil to countries participating in price-limiting measures.
Of course, in addition to passive responses, Russia is also planning to take the initiative.
According to media reports on Tuesday citing two Russian government officials,Faced with the oil price cap created by the G7, Russia is considering whether to set an “oil price floor” (price floor), setting a minimum price for Russian oil sales.
The global game kicks off again
Price remains the most important aspect of any price cap.If Russia sets a potential “floor price” above $60, it means that Greece’s shipping industry will not be able to transport Russian oil products, and the European financial industry will not be able to provide it with standard insurance services.
Informed officials said,Russia is committed to providing a transparent pricing mechanism to crude oil buyers and insists on using market means to resolve price caps.KremlinDoes not want any non-market pressure on neutral countries to buy crude oiland do not wish to irritate these buyers.
There are currently two main approaches to pricing restrictions that Russia is considering:Set the maximum discount ratio, or directly give a fixed price。
Informed officials explained that the discount limit refers to the maximum discount ratio corresponding to the international benchmark oil price. Russian crude oil sellers will not be able to sell crude oil at a lower discount, and the restriction ratio will also be adjusted from time to time according to international market conditions. As a background for pricing, the trading price of Russian Urals crude oil has been around $50 against the backdrop of Brent oil fluctuating around $80-90 recently. Another option that Russia considers is to directly set a fixed price like the G7, which will also be adjusted from time to time.
Regarding this series of speculations, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Novak, who has been in charge of energy affairs for a long time, said on Tuesday,Russia’s countermeasures will be in place by the end of the year, This also implies that Russia is not in a hurry to respond. According to earlier reports, Russia is also preparing a presidential decree to prohibit Russian companies and traders from selling Russian oil to countries participating in the price-limiting measures.
Regarding the impact of the Russian oil price limit measures, Novak also made it clear to the outside world that Russia will stop providing crude oil to customers participating in the price limit.It may also temporarily reduce crude oil production capacity。