Putin signs decree banning sale of Russian oil at price cap imposed by the West
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree prohibiting the supply of Russian oil and petroleum products to foreign legal entities and individuals if contracts for these supplies "directly or indirectly" enforce the price cap. "The established ban applies at all stages of deliveries to the final buyer," reads the decree published on the Kremlin’s website.
The decree will be in effect for six months, from February 1 to July 1, 2023. According to the decree, the measures are introduced "in order to protect national interests" in response to "unfriendly and contrary to international law actions of the United States and the countries that have joined it."
The document was prepared for more than two weeks. On December 13, it was reported that the Russian authorities generally agreed on response measures to the price cap of $60 dollars per barrel, imposed by the West. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov then promised that Putin would sign the decree before December 18.
The Russian oil is currently trading at a price that is lower than the price limit imposed by the West. The cost of a barrel of Urals oil is $ 56.99. However, as Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak explained yesterday, an increase in the price of Russian oil is expected in the first half of 2023, just at the time when the decree of the Russian president will come in effect.