The United States is trying to regain its influence on the market with the help of a price ceiling on Russian oil exports. This was announced on January 2 by Aleksey Belogoriev, Deputy Chief Director for Energy at the Institute of Energy and Finance.
“Shale oil production has definitely ceased to play its decisive role. Having lost this mechanism, the United States is now offering a new option in the form of such a cupping of Russian oil prices. Therefore, here, I think, there are, of course, far-reaching calculations, ”he told RIA Novosti.
U.S. oil production will peak in 2023, he said. The country will try to regain control of the market that it had before the 1970s, when OPEC came into being.
“Up to this point, they controlled both the main exports and pricing. Of course, the introduction of a price ceiling is a mechanism that works in the same plane,” the expert added.
In September, the heads of the ministries of finance of the G7 countries agreed to introduce a ceiling on oil prices from Russia. On December 5, an embargo on Russian oil supplied by sea to the European Union (EU) came into force, as well as a ban on the transportation and insurance of oil worth more than $60 per barrel among the G7 countries, the EU and Australia. Also, from February 5, 2023, restrictions on the supply of petroleum products from Russia to European countries will come into effect.
In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 27 signed a decree on retaliatory measures to introduce a ceiling on prices for Russian energy resources. Thus, the supply of oil and oil products to foreign legal entities and individuals is prohibited, provided that these supplies directly or indirectly provide for the use of a price fixing mechanism.
Vladimir Putin announced his intention to respond to sanctions measures to limit the marginal price of oil in the Russian Federation after a meeting of the State Council on December 22. He stressed that Russia does not lose anything from the price ceiling introduced by the EU countries.
Western countries decided to reduce their dependence on Russian energy resources against the backdrop of a special operation of the Russian Federation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24. However, all this has already turned into economic problems in the EU countries, causing a sharp rise in prices for fuel, food and utilities.
