Despite rising global crude prices and requests from some nations for a lower price ceiling to limit Moscow’s income, the Group of Seven (G7) coalition will maintain a $60 per barrel price limitation on seaborne Russian oil, a coalition official said.

After reviewing the $60 price, which was set in December to try to limit Moscow’s ability to finance its war in Ukraine, the G7 and Australia decided to retain the restriction during the previous few weeks, the official said on condition of anonymity.

It follows four weeks of increases in benchmark oil prices, which were boosted by OPEC+—a grouping of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, led by Russia—announced output cuts as well as a rebound in Chinese consumption.

On Monday, the market was stable, with both Brent and U.S. crude futures maintaining a price of well than $80 per barrel.

According to the official, Russian crude has been trading at about a $30 discount to Brent.

Officials from the coalition came to the conclusion that the price cap was successful in limiting Russian revenue while preserving the stability of the energy market, but they emphasized that they would keep working together to ensure efficient monitoring and enforcement.

The coalition will step up its efforts to resist Russian sanctions and the price cap evasion, particularly the use of dishonest methods to gain access to insurance and other coalition services for oil traded above the price cap.

According to the source, coalition members intend to offer guidelines to service providers to help them see red flags for evasion, such as manipulating ships’ location tracking or failing to independently itemize shipping, freight, customs, and insurance charges from the oil itself.

The Eastern Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline and ports in eastern Russia may be used to circumvent the price cap on oil exports, the U.S. Treasury warned American businesses later on Monday.

It advised traders to keep records proving they purchased Russian oil and oil-related items at or below the threshold.

If Russian oil and oil products are sold above the cap, G7 and European Union corporations are prohibited from providing transportation, insurance, and financing services for them.

Additionally limiting Russian oil imports are the United States and the United Kingdom.

The official pointed out that a recent International Energy Administration (IEA) report found that the G7 sanctions regime had been successful “in not restricting global crude and product supplies, while simultaneously curtailing Russia’s ability to generate export revenue.”

Russian oil revenue for March increased by $1 billion month over month to $12.7 billion, according to the IEA on Friday, although it was still 43% lower than a year ago.

According to the G7 official, Russian oil shipments have consistently averaged over 3 million barrels per day, and markets throughout the world have remained stable.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)

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