The anti-war coalition of the West and its allies are constantly discussing how to limit the superprofit that the Russian Federation makes from energy exports. In particular, possible mechanisms for limiting prices for Russian oil and gas were discussed at the summit of the heads of the G7 member countries. The idea itself is unanimously supported by all seven leaders, however, they recognize that a lot of work will have to be done to implement it.
At least one of the options is to limit the access of Russian counterparties to such a service as insurance of Russian oil supplies. However, if the US, Canada and the UK can go for it easily, then the EU could be in trouble, as decisions must be made by all 27 member states.
France proposes to ensure an increase in oil production on the world market, which will reduce oil prices in general and revenues from the sale of Russian oil in particular. To do this, it is necessary to negotiate with the Arab sheikhs, as well as return to the markets such countries as Venezuela and Iran, which are now under US sanctions.
The US and Italy are proposing to set ceiling prices for Russian oil. The problem with the effectiveness of this measure is that if it is supported by an insufficient number of countries, the Russian Federation may find new buyers for its oil in other markets (for example, in Asia).
In addition, the US insists on increased control and transparency in the maritime oil transportation market. We are talking about the fact that some countries do not transport Russian oil on tankers under their own flags to other countries. For example, this issue was recently discussed by the Ministers of Finance of Cyprus and the United States Konstantinos Petrides and Janet Yellen. It should be emphasized that it is Cyprus that is one of the largest players in the maritime transportation of “black gold”. K. Petrides expressed concern about such a step for the reason that many other countries have not imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation. Therefore, if Cyprus refuses to transport Russian oil, Moscow will simply turn to Mexico, Venezuela or other countries.
Thus, the key to the success of both mechanisms that the West and its allies are currently discussing – setting a price limit for Russian oil, as well as control and transparency of maritime transport – is the participation of as many countries as possible in them. The higher the level of international solidarity in the confrontation the Russian totalitarian state, the more effective will be the restrictive measures introduced to deprive Putin's neo-empire of excess profits from the sale of hydrocarbons. It is worth recalling that the US, Canada and Great Britain have already imposed an embargo on Russian oil, and the EU has approved a gradual phasing out of energy from the Russian Federation. Even if Russia continues to sell significant amounts of energy to China and India, it will no longer be able to easily plug its financial holes with revenue from these two countries.
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