By Julia Payne
BANFF, Alberta (Reuters) -A European official said on Thursday that the United States is “not convinced” about lowering the Group of Seven nations (G7) price cap on Russian crude oil.
The European Union has proposed revising the cap down to an indicative level of $50 a barrel. The cap, agreed in 2022, was designed to stop Russian oil being sold to third countries using Western insurance services if the price exceeded $60 a barrel, in order to hit Moscow’s revenues. Ukraine has pushed for an even lower price of $30 a barrel.
The European official, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters on the sidelines of the G7 finance ministers’ meeting in Banff, Canada, that the U.S. treasury team at the meeting took the view that oil prices were already falling and hurting Russia. However, the European official said the U.S. remained open to the idea and discussions would continue.
The U.S. Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brent oil futures fell to multi-year lows in April and have stayed depressed as U.S. tariff threats weigh on global economic forecasts. On Thursday, Brent oil futures were trading at around $64 a barrel. Russia’s main crude grade Urals trades at around a $10 discount to the Dated Brent benchmark.
The EU and its Western allies have been progressively cracking down on Russia’s shadow fleet of tankers and related players, which work to circumvent the cap. This week, the EU adopted a 17th package aimed at Russia’s shadow fleet and Russian oil producer Surgutneftegaz.
EU Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in Banff that more sanctions on Russia were discussed at the meeting, including EU ideas to hit energy. Dombrovskis declined to elaborate on the details.
(Reporting by Julia Payne, Editing by William Maclean and Susan Fenton)
