WASHINGTON, December 3. /TASS/. Countries of the Group of Seven (G7) and Australia are set to gradually phase out the use of Russian oil on their domestic markets, according to a joint statement released on Friday.
"We reaffirm our intention to phase out Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products from our domestic markets," the document says. "This commitment remains unchanged by the implementation of the price cap. Instead, the price cap is designed to allow our service providers to support shipments of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products to other countries - enabling stable energy supplies while restricting Russia’s revenue."
G7 and Australia also called upon third states importing oil and petroleum products from Russia to leverage the price cap. "We note that this is in the economic self-interest of these countries, as imports under the price cap will help curtail energy prices and restrict Russia’s ability to further profit off the <…> premium it has been earning."
Members of the Group of Seven (G7) and Australia said in a joint statement on Saturday they had agreed to set the price cap on Russian oil at the level of $60 per barrel. The decision is to enter into force "on 5 December 2022 or very soon thereafter."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on October 12 that Moscow was not going to pay for somebody else’s prosperity and export its energy resources to those who impose price caps on them. He called the practice of price caps "cardsharp tricks" and "flagrant blackmail." Apart from that, in his speech at the Russian Energy Week, the president warned that price capping oil is fraught with the risks of setting price caps in other sectors, which is harmful for the global market economy and the wellbeing of billions of people.