G7 looks into Russia oil and gas price caps

Leaders of the G7 nations agreed on Tuesday to study ways to impose a price cap on Russian oil and gas in an effort to ease economic pressures that have emerged from the Ukraine conflict.

Ahead of the third and final day of the G7 summit being held in the Bavarian Alps of Germany, an official news release said group members would now seek to reach an agreement with international partners on import price caps and options on how to achieve this.

Concerns of an impending recession induced by rising inflation have overshadowed the summit, and leaders have been debating ways of controlling costs.

The United States wants to tackle the problem with a price cap, which its officials say could be enforced by lifting sanctions on insurance for the cargo ships that transport Russian oil in return for a deal, reported Politico.

With this plan, sanctions would be lifted for nations that agreed only to buy Russian oil at a settled maximum price, generating an incentive to apply the price cap, it said.

France on Monday proposed higher global oil production and pushed for a worldwide price cap instead of only on Russian oil sales, but later backed down, making a deal on a Russian oil price limit possible, Reuters reported.

A deal on a price cap could face challenges in the European Union where sanctions require the consent of all 27 member states, reported the Financial Times.

It quoted a G7 official as saying they were "supportive of the basic structure" of a Russian oil price cap deal, but that "details need to be hammered out".

Revenue sources

Another told the FT that all G7 states agreed with the "basic idea that we have to reduce the sources of revenue for Russian oil".

Western countries, which are seeking to raise pressure on Moscow while also trying to limit damage to their own economies, have voiced increasing frustration that their sanctions on Russian oil have had the effect of forcing up the global crude price.

The International Energy Agency said in its latest monthly report that Russian oil export revenues had climbed despite the embargoes reducing volume, reported Reuters.

EU member states have been struggling to diversify their gas imports in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine. Italy announced measures last week to increase gas storage to overcome deficits in gas supplies from Russia.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has pushed hard for price caps on Russian oil and pipeline gas at the G7 summit.

"We must avoid the mistakes made after the 2008 crisis: the energy crisis must not produce a return of populism," Draghi was reported to have told the G7.

"We must mitigate the impact of rising energy prices, compensate families and businesses in difficulty, and tax companies that make extraordinary profits."