Experts consider the EU decision on the price ceiling for Russian oil ineffective

MOSCOW, 6 Oct — PRIME. The decision of the European Union on the ceiling of oil prices in the Russian Federation is a kind of signal to neutral buyers to join the mechanism, but this measure is ineffective, since the rules on the world oil market are still dictated by sellers, not buyers, experts interviewed by RIA Novosti believe.

The European Union has agreed on the eighth package of sanctions against Russia, which comes into force on Friday. It includes a legislative basis for setting a price ceiling for maritime shipments of Russian oil to third countries. It is planned that the price limit will be introduced on December 5 for oil and on February 5, 2023 for oil products.

“The decision to establish a” ceiling “is rather a kind of message to neutral oil-consuming countries, pushing them to join this mechanism. However, under the current OPEC+ agreement, the oil market has not yet become a” buyer’s market “dictating its terms to sellers,” he said. Sergey Kolobanov, deputy head of the direction “Economics of the Fuel and Energy Complex” of the Center for Strategic Research.

He noted that the new decision of the Europeans will have a minimal impact on the volume of exports of oil and oil products from Russia, as well as on the discount to the price of Russian resources, since the Russian oil industry has been looking for new markets and carriers for several months.

“In itself, this measure is not very effective, since the West does not have a monopoly on the oil and gas market. Everything that we do not sell to the West, we will sell to the East,” Dmitry Zhuravlev, scientific director of the Institute of Regional Problems, told RIA Novosti.

He recalled the statements of representatives of the Russian authorities that Russia would not sell energy carriers if this would be contrary to its own interests. “But the very existence of the ceiling affects prices psychologically,” he said.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, commenting on the West’s idea to limit prices for Russian energy resources, said that Russia would not supply anything abroad if this would be contrary to its own interests.