“Moscow will find alternative markets without any problems”: the EU published a decision to introduce a ceiling on oil prices from Russia

The official journal of the European Union published a decision on the introduction of a price ceiling for Russian oil - $ 60 per barrel from December 5.

“It is prohibited, directly or indirectly, to provide technical assistance, intermediary services or financing or financial assistance related to the trade, intermediation or transportation, including through ship-to-ship transshipment, to third countries of crude oil or oil products that originate in Russia or have been exported from Russia,” the document says.

At the same time, Brussels' innovation has a transitional period of 45 days for Russian oil supplied by sea.

We are talking about ships loaded before December 5 and unloaded at the port of destination before January 19.

“The way the price cap mechanism functions will be reviewed every two months to respond to market developments and will be set at least 5% below the average market price of Russian oil and petroleum products based on data provided by the International Energy agency,” the EU said.

In addition, the European Union intends to introduce a price ceiling for oil products from Russia from February 5.

Brussels has yet to agree on a price limit for this category.

The European Union actually flogged itself in an attempt to demonstrate the unity of the collective West in the face of the “Russian threat,” Anton Orlov, director of the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Politics, told RT.

“Demand for Russian raw materials will grow, and Moscow will easily find alternative markets for consumption, which is already happening.

Let me remind you that this year a number of countries, including India, China, Turkey, have significantly increased the purchase of Russian energy carriers,” he said.

In turn, Vyacheslav Mishchenko, head of the Center for Analysis of Strategy and Technology for the Development of the Fuel and Energy Complex of the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, believes that European officials are bringing discord into the energy market with their legislative initiatives.

“Let's start with the fact that so far no one understands how this price ceiling, how this embargo will work.

The very practice of applying and, in general, the decision to introduce some kind of restrictions in this way is absolutely unique and corresponds to the current moment, to the collapse of, say, market relations that began several years ago with the introduction of sanctions, ”the expert said.

According to him, while no one can predict how the restrictions will be applied and how tough they will be.

“Now OPEC + must make a decision that will push prices up.

It can be assumed that the cost will be around $100 per barrel.

If supply restrictions are tight, then prices will be even higher.

For Russia, the current situation only means a redistribution of flows from the European market to others,” Mishchenko added.

“From this year Europe will live without Russian oil”

Earlier, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that the European continent is starting life without energy supplies from the Russian Federation.

“From this year Europe will live without Russian oil.

Moscow has already made it clear that it will not supply oil to those countries that maintain an anti-market price ceiling.

Just wait.

Very soon the EU will accuse Russia of using oil as a weapon,” he wrote on Twitter.

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, commenting on the decision of the EU, posted on his Telegram channel a frame with the character of Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining, which froze in the snow.

“Finally, we have made a decision on the price ceiling for Russian oil…” — says the caption on the picture.

Let us recall that Vladimir Putin noted back in September that Russia would not supply any energy carriers to countries that would introduce price caps.

The head of state stressed that the Russian side would not do anything imposed from outside: “We will only have one thing left - as in the famous Russian fairy tale, to say: “Cold, freeze, wolf tail.”