Putin forbade selling oil to the countries that have established the ceiling of prices

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on response measures to oil prices introduced by the European Union. By this decree, he prohibited the supply of Russian oil and oil products to countries that use the restrictive mechanism. The document is published on the legal information website.

The ban on the supply of oil with a price ceiling prescribed in the contract shall enter into force on February 1 and is valid until July 1, 2023. Putin also forbade it to supply oil to foreign customers if any other mechanism for fixing the maximum price is prescribed in the contract.

Against the background of this news, the price of gas in Europe sank below $ 850 per 1 thousand cubic meters for the first time from February 22.

The European Union countries introduced a ceiling of prices for Russian oil in early December, after two weeks they also introduced a ceiling of gas supply prices, which will begin to operate from February 15.

The ceiling of prices for the purchase of Russian oil was set at 60 dollars per barrel. The price will be adjusted so that it is always 5% lower than the market. The ceiling of gas prices was installed at the level of 180 euros per 1 megavatts/hour.

In the Kremlin, the ceiling of prices was called unacceptable. Immediately after the introduction of the embargo, the Russian authorities promised not to sell oil at a price below the market. However, it is assumed that the price below the market will lead to the fact that the largest buyers of Russian tanker oil will be observed: China and India.

In the first week of the price of the price ceiling and the ban on the supply of Russian oil by the sea, export from Russia decreased by 54%, the Bloomberg agency found out . Reuters reported that in search of new stable markets in December, Russia sold oil twice as low as the market price-only $ 32-35.

The ultimate goal of such restrictions is to maintain Russian hydrocarbons in the market, while avoiding prices of prices and at the same time reduce Russia's income during the war with Ukraine.