According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the United States and its allied countries are negotiating a price cap for oil in order to contain the economic consequences of the Ukraine war and reduce Russia's income from oil exports.
The partners were negotiating how to "prevent negative impacts on the global economy," Yellen said Monday during a visit to Canada.
Denmark, meanwhile, issued an early warning out of concern for its gas supplies.
Yellen listed "price caps" or a "price exception" as possible options in Canada.
Both, she says, would have multiple implications: They would "amplify" Western sanctions on Russian energy sources, driving down the price of Russian oil and thus lowering revenues for the Russian government - while allowing more oil to enter the international market .
According to Yellen, a price cap would also prevent "side effects on low-income countries and developing countries" that are currently struggling with high food and energy prices.
Yellen announced the negotiations during a visit to her Canadian counterpart and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Among other things, the meeting discussed strategies for dealing with the effects of the Ukraine war, high inflation and problems in global supply chains.
Russia sells more oil to China
Meanwhile, the government in Denmark called the early warning level in the gas emergency plan out of concern for the gas supply.
"The situation is serious and has been exacerbated by reduced deliveries," said the head of the Danish Energy Agency, Martin Hansen, according to a statement.
The Danish gas storage facilities are currently 75 percent full, and more gas has recently been added.
At the end of May, Gazprom announced that it would stop delivering to the Danish company Orsted.
In the gas emergency plan, which is based on an EU regulation from 2017, the alert level and the emergency level follow.
The plan enables EU countries to support each other in gas deliveries, but can also justify gas rationing.
Germany had already declared the gas early warning level at the end of March.
Last Friday, the Federal Network Agency classified the situation as "tense" in its management report after the Russian Gazprom group had cut back on its gas supplies to Germany several times.
Russia, on the other hand, is now selling significantly more oil to China and coal to India as a result of Western sanctions.
In May, Moscow even became the People's Republic's largest oil supplier, as the customs authority in Beijing announced at the beginning of the week.
Russia exported nearly two million barrels per day (bpd), up about 55 percent year-on-year and about a quarter up from April.
After 19 months, Russia has again ousted Saudi Arabia from being China's largest oil supplier.
Chinese companies such as the refinery giant Sinopec benefited from sharp price reductions after western oil companies and trading houses withdrew from the Russian market due to sanctions over the Ukraine war.