Most G7 members ready to lower Russian oil price cap without US
BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) -Most countries in the Group of Seven nations are prepared to go it alone and lower the G7 price cap on Russian oil even if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to opt out, four sources familiar with the matter said.
G7 country leaders are due to meet on June 15-17 in Canada where they will discuss the price cap first agreed in late 2022. The cap was designed to allow Russian oil to be sold to third countries using Western insurance services provided the price was no more than $60 a barrel.
The European Union and Britain have been pushing to lower the price for weeks after a fall in global oil prices made the current $60 cap nearly irrelevant.
The sources, who declined to be named, said the EU and Britain are ready to lead the charge and go it alone, backed by the other European G7 countries and Canada.
They said it is still unclear what the U.S. will decide, though the Europeans are pushing for a united decision at the meeting. Japan's position also remains uncertain, they said.
"There is a push among European countries to reduce the oil price cap to $45 from $60. There are positive signals from Canada, Britain and possibly the Japanese. We will use the G7 to try to get the U.S. on board," one of the sources said.
The White House had no immediate comment. During the G7 finance ministers meeting in the Canadian Rockies last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remained unconvinced there was a need to lower the cap, according to sources.
However some U.S. Senators may endorse the idea, including Lindsay Graham, who in recent weeks told reporters he supports lowering the cap. Graham is pushing a hard-hitting new set of Russia sanctions that could impose steep tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.
The Canadian foreign ministry was not immediately available for comment.
The EU has proposed lowering the price to $45 a barrel in its latest 18th package of sanctions. The package must have unanimity from member states in order for it to be adopted, which could take several weeks.
Russia's largest export grade, Urals, trades at around a $10 a barrel discount to the Dated Brent benchmark out of Baltic ports. Brent futures have been trading below $70 a barrel since early April.
Sources said Washington's buy-in was not essential to lower the cap owing to Britain's dominance in global shipping insurance, and the EU's influence on the Western rules-abiding tanker fleet.
The U.S., however, does matter when it comes to dollar-denominated payments for oil and its banking system.
The EU and its Western allies have been progressively cracking down on Russia's shadow fleet of tankers and related actors, which work to circumvent the cap.
The pressure has started to hurt Moscow's revenues and Western allies hope this will push more of the oil trade back under the cap. Russia's state-owned oil producer Rosneft reported a 14.4% slump in profits last year.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU and Japan agree to work together to promote free trade and economic security
TOKYO (AP) — Leaders of the European Union and Japan launched an alliance Wednesday aimed at boosting economic cooperation, defending free trade and countering unfair trade practices as the two sides face growing challenges from the United States and China. The agreement followed a meeting among European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. It comes just as Tokyo and Washington reached a new trade deal, which places 15% tariffs on Japanese cars and other goods imported into the U.S., down from an initial 25%. The leaders agreed to launch 'competitiveness alliance" aimed at stepping up trade, economic security and cooperation in innovation, energy and other areas, according to a joint statement released by the EU. The leaders also supported 'a stable and predictable rules-based free and fair economic order,' and reaffirmed the importance of Japan-EU cooperation to uphold multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, as well as with other multilateral cooperation efforts. The EU and Japan also agreed to strengthen defense industry cooperation and to start talks on an information security agreement. Japan and the EU have been stepping up their security and defense cooperation amid growing global tensions and conflicts, including Russia's war on Ukraine, conflicts in the Middle East and increasingly assertive China's military activity in Asia, recognizing that challenges in Europe and Indo-Pacific are inseparable. Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Silver's hot streak gathers pace; market at highest since 2011
By Polina Devitt and Sherin Elizabeth Varghese (Reuters) -Silver prices surged to their highest in almost 14 years on Wednesday, aided by worries about U.S. tariff policy, signs of tightness in the spot market and growing investor interest in alternatives to gold. Spot silver was up 0.3% at $39.40 per troy ounce as of 1354 GMT, its highest level since September 2011. Silver, both a precious and industrial metal, is up 36% this year, outperforming gold's 31% growth and coming within a whisker of the key $40-per-ounce mark. The metal hit a record high of $49 in 2011. U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to impose 50% import tariffs on copper from August 1 and the U.S. import tariffs for Mexico widened the premium of the U.S. futures for silver and other metals against the London benchmarks in July, leading to a growth in lease rates in the spot market. Gold, silver, platinum and palladium were excluded from Trump's April reciprocal tariffs, but "the broader market isn't trading it that way and is taking a page out of Comex copper's handbook", Nicky Shiels, head of metals strategy at MKS PAMP. Spot silver prices may hit $42 per ounce this year, according to Shiels. Analysts also noted that industrial demand for silver, heading for the fifth year of structural market deficit, remains solid, while investment demand is gaining momentum as a more affordable alternative to gold. Silver's recent rally has improved its ratio with gold to the strongest level in seven months. It currently takes 87 ounces of silver to buy an ounce of gold, compared with 105 ounces in April. "It is the copper tariff that sent some spinning off at odd tangents that captured the other metals," said a precious metal trader based in London, adding that the lease rates in the spot market should fall once the borrowing activity caused by the U.S. tariff fears subside. The current momentum could be hot enough to take silver over $40/oz in the short term, said Nitesh Shah, commodity strategist at WisdomTree. "But with positioning stretched, we would not be surprised if it fell back to $35/oz, before it starts its march higher to $45/oz next year," Shah added. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chevron says zinc levels in U.S. Mars oil output within limits
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Chevron on Tuesday said recent testing indicates that zinc levels in flagship U.S. offshore crude Mars' production stream were now within expected levels. The start-up of an offshore well caused zinc contamination in Mars crude, Chevron had said earlier this month, leading to tightening crude oil supply in the key Gulf Coast refining hub and the government releasing barrels from its emergency stockpile.