Rail wagons for oil, fuel and melted gas freight stand in sidings at Yanichkino train station, near to the Gazprom Neft PJSC Moscow refinery in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, April 27, 2020.
Andrey Rudakov|Bloomberg|Getty Images
A conference of European Union federal government agents, arranged for Friday night to go over a Group of Seven proposition to cap Russian seaborne oil costs, was canceled, EU diplomats stated.
“There was not enough of a convergence of views,” one diplomat stated.
“There won’t be a meeting tonight nor this weekend,” a 2nd diplomat stated.
On Thursday, European Union federal governments were divided on the level at which to cap Russian oil costs to suppress Moscow’s capability to spend for its war in Ukraine without triggering a worldwide oil supply shock. The cap is to participate in force onDec 5.
The concept of the cap is to forbid shipping, insurance coverage and re-insurance business from dealing with freights of Russian unrefined around the world, unless it is cost less than the cost set by the Group of Seven countries and its allies.
Because the world’s crucial shipping and insurance coverage companies are based in G7 nations, the cost cap would make it extremely tough for Moscow to offer its oil – its most significant export product accounting for some 10% of world supply – for a greater cost.
Poland, Estonia and Lithuania were promoting a much lower cap than the $65-70 per barrel proposed by the G7, while Greece, Cyprus and Malta lobbied for a greater cap, or some kind of settlement for the predicted loss of organization to their big shipping sectors.
The EU diplomats, who decreased to be recognized, stated it was unclear how near both sides were to an arrangement.
“The latest is that Poland, Estonia and Lithuania are trying to outdo each other on their toughness on the price cap,” among the diplomats near to the talks stated, including that Poland wished to connect arrangement of the cost cap to a brand-new plan of sanctions versus Russia.
“Meanwhile Malta, Greece and Cyprus are in it for the money, whichever way they can get it – through a higher cap, or compensation, etc. So positions are still very far apart and the U.S. is nowhere to be seen to bring the two sides together,” the diplomat stated.
