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At least it seems Biden's cap on Russian oil price is working to some degree. World leaders want Putin's oil in the system or else the oil price would skyrocket. At the same time so far it seems the countries buying it are paying the capped lower price so Putin is being punished for his fucked up 'let's create a false historical narrative for the Russian people so they see me as doing something for them' war in Ukraine.

"G7 energy, environment leaders haggle over climate strategy"

Isn't easy dealing with psychopaths, while at the same time weighing economics vs climate.

Biden advisor says oil price cap is working as Russia takes economic hit

Published Fri, Jan 13 2023 5:04 AM EST Updated Fri, Jan 13 2023 5:17 AM EST

Jenni Reid

* The Group of Seven’s oil price cap scheme, which seeks to limit Russian oil export revenues, is working “so far so good,” according to Amos Hochstein, special presidential coordinator to President Joe Biden.

* “There’s no doubt it has so far, as we sit today, achieved our interest,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

* Introduced on Dec. 5, the price cap scheme requires buyers outside of the G7 using Western services such as maritime routes, insurance and financing to pay no more than $60 per barrel for seaborne Russian crude oil.

The Russian oil price cap has so far 'achieved our interest,' Amos Hochstein says ... VIDEO 02:08

The Group of Seven’s oil price cap scheme intended to limit Russian oil export revenues is working “so far so good,” according to Amos Hochstein, special presidential coordinator to President Joe Biden.

“As oil prices have come down, there’s no doubt that the price cap has, so far, and there’s a long way to go, as we sit today, achieved our interest, which was to have continued supply of oil on the market to support economic growth while limiting the value that oil makes for Putin,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

The price cap initiative was introduced on Dec. 5, when the EU stopped taking Russian crude oil. The price scheme requires buyers outside of the G7 using Western services such as maritime routes, insurance and financing to pay no more than $60 per barrel for seaborne Russian crude oil.

EU countries will no longer be able to access seaborne Russian oil products as of Feb. 5.

President Vladimir Putin last month announced .. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/28/putin-attempts-to-undermine-oil-price-cap-as-global-energy-markets-fracture.html .. Russia would stop the supply of crude oil and oil products for five months to any nation that adhered to the cap, starting on Feb. 1. The retaliatory move will be followed by a separate ban linked to refined oil products.

Hochstein said that, while the scheme was still in its early days, “the fact that the discount on Russian oil has widened is a good thing, we hope that continues. We’ll see where it takes us.”

He did not specify how much the U.S. believes the price ceiling initiative is costing Russia. Finland’s Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air estimates this toll is at €160 million ($172 million) a day.

The plan faced significant skeptism from some analysts, while it was sketched out by the G-7 and its ally Australia.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the initiative was “not only not feasible, I think it’s the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard.”

“I’m glad that where everyone doubted the price cap would work, I think sometimes people have a tendency to think if it’s not been done before it’s not possible. I think the G7 got together, it’s part of the unity of the G7, and I think so far so good,” Hochstein said.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/13/biden-advisor-says-oil-price-cap-is-working-as-russia-takes-economic-hit.html

This from the right-wing Washington Examiner - Biden fending off pressure to lower price cap on Russian oil

by Breanne Deppisch, Energy and Environment Reporter
March 18, 2023 03:00 AM

VIDEO

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The Biden administration is fending off pressure to lower the Russian oil price cap, insisting that it is achieving its intended goal of limiting Moscow’s oil revenue despite new reports on illegal tankers and new ship tracking data that call the cap’s success into question.

Treasury Department officials have maintained that the cap has been successful so far in achieving its twin goals of driving down Russia’s oil revenue .. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/war-in-ukraine .. while also keeping its barrels on the market.

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And President Joe Biden told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during her White House visit last week that there was “no desire” in Washington to reduce the $60 cap price despite a push from some European countries, the Wall Street Journal reported this week.

But getting a clear picture of the volumes that Moscow is shipping or the price point that buyers in China and India have been paying for Russian supplies is difficult.

That’s due, in part, to the large fleet of unregistered “shadow tankers” Moscow has amassed to sell its oil outside the cap, which trading giant Trafigura estimated last month contains around 400 crude oil tankers, as well as conflicting reports on how high Russian oil is trading.

Russian crude continued to sell for an average of $74 per barrel during the four weeks after the oil price cap came into force, researchers from Columbia University, the Institute of International Finance, the University of California, Los Angeles, and IE University said in a report published earlier this month.

That’s about a quarter above the $60 capped price for Russian crude and $22 higher than the Urals trading price for December, which reflected prices of just $52 per barrel.

Researchers said the high prices were the result of two factors: Russia’s reliance on illegal tankers, which they estimate shipped around 50% of Moscow’s crude exports in December, and a broader lack of transparency and enforcement from Western service providers in implementing the cap.

Though it is not illegal for Moscow to use non-Western shippers to send its oil to non-sanctions coalition countries, such as China and India, the G-7-led coalition has not introduced any central repository to collect attestations from Western service providers or audit those who might not be complying with the cap.

“When you introduce an oil price cap and you ask people how much Russia is getting money, nobody knows,” Maxim Mironov, a finance professor at the IE University Business School and co-author of the research paper, said in an interview.

Earlier this month, JPMorgan Chase also forecast that Russia would be able to maintain its oil output at pre-Ukraine invasion levels of 10.8 million barrels per day, underpinned by strong demand from China and India, which it expects to increase by a combined 1 million bpd this year.

Due in part to Russia’s stronger-than-expected exports, pressure is rising from some coalition countries to lower the capped price to cut into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest. At least three European Union member countries, Estonia, Poland, and Lithuania, pressured the European Commission this week to lower the cap by 5% to $51.45 when it comes up for review at the end of the month, something the Biden administration has resisted.

Estonia, for its part, has called .. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-06/estonia-calls-for-eu-to-halve-the-60-price-cap-on-russian-oil .. to halve the Russian price cap and urged the coalition to back stronger enforcement measures.

Stanford University’s International Working Group on Russian Sanctions, a group of 60 independent, international experts, similarly recommended slashing the price cap in its most recent assessment, published on the one-year mark of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The group called for a $30 total reduction on Russian oil products, to be applied in increments of $10 every two months.

But the United States and other coalition countries have so far resisted this effort — due in part to concerns that slashing the cap could prompt Russia to take its oil off the market, threatening global supply.

This view has been reiterated by Treasury Department officials, including by Treasury's assistant secretary for economic policy, Ben Harris, who told reporters this week the cap had achieved a “best case scenario” outcome in the eyes of U.S. leaders.

One could look at the data and say, “‘OK, fine, barrels are flowing. That’s fine,’” Harris said of Russian crude exports. “But are you driving down Russian revenue? And the answer is decidedly yes.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-environment/joe-biden-pressure-lower-price-cap-russian-oil