MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday delivered Russia’s long-awaited response to a Western price cap, signing a decree that bans the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1 for five months to nations that abide by the cap.
The Group of Seven major powers, the European Union and Australia agreed this month to a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil effective from Dec. 5 over Moscow’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The cap is close to the current price for Russian oil, but well beneath the windfall price Russia was able to sell for this year and that helped offset the impact of financial sanctions on Moscow.
Russia is the world’s second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia, and a major disruption to its sales would have far reaching consequences for global energy supplies.
The decree, published on a government portal and the Kremlin website, was presented as a direct response to “actions that are unfriendly and contradictory to international law by the United States and foreign states and international organizations joining them.”
“Deliveries of Russian oil and oil products to foreign entities and individuals are banned, on the condition that in the contracts for these supplies, the use of a maximum price fixing mechanism is directly or indirectly envisaged,” the decree stated, referring specifically to the United States and other foreign states that have imposed the price cap.
“The established ban applies to all stages of supply up to the end buyer.”
The decree, which includes a clause that allows for Putin to overrule the ban in special cases, stated: “This...comes into force on Feb. 1, 2023, and applies until July 1, 2023.”
Crude oil exports will be banned from Feb. 1, but the date for the oil products ban will be determined by the Russian government and could be after Feb. 1.
Wider deficit
The price cap, unseen even in the times of the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union, is aimed at crippling Russian state coffers and Moscow’s military efforts in Ukraine.
Some analysts have said that the cap will have little immediate impact on the oil revenues that Moscow is currently earning.
However, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Tuesday that Russia’s budget deficit could be wider than the planned 2 percent of GDP in 2023, with the oil price cap squeezing export income, an extra fiscal hurdle for Moscow as it spends heavily on its military campaign in Ukraine.
Russia has been promising to respond officially for weeks, and the eventual decree largely established what officials had already said publicly.
The G7 price cap allows non-EU countries to continue importing seaborne Russian crude oil, but it will prohibit shipping, insurance and re-insurance companies from handling cargoes of Russian crude around the globe, unless it is being sold for less than the price cap.
EU countries have separately implemented an embargo that prohibits them from purchasing seaborne Russian oil.
Russian Urals oil traded above $56 per barrel on Tuesday, below the price cap level.
Brent crude oil moved a little higher on the news and was up 1.4 percent at $85.1 by 1743 GMT.
Putin bans Russian oil exports to countries that impose price cap
https://arab.news/5r4p3
Putin bans Russian oil exports to countries that impose price cap
- G7, EU, and Australia agreed this month to a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil effective from Dec. 5
Closing Bell: Saudi stocks slip as Tadawul falls 1% amid broad market weakness
RIYADH: Saudi stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, with the Tadawul All Share Index closing down 108.14 points, or 1.03 percent, at 10,381.51.
The broader decline was reflected across major indices. The MSCI Tadawul 30 Index slipped 0.78 percent to 1,378.00, while Nomu, the parallel market index, fell 1 percent to 23,040.79.
Market breadth was strongly negative on the main board, with 237 stocks falling compared to just 24 gainers. Trading activity remained robust, with 164.7 million shares changing hands and a total traded value of SR3.19 billion ($850.6 million).
Among the gainers, SEDCO Capital REIT Fund led, rising 2.73 percent to SR6.77, followed by Chubb Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co., which gained 2.69 percent to SR20.20.
National Medical Care Co. added 1.72 percent to close at SR141.60, while Alyamamah Steel Industries Co. and Thimar Advertising, Public Relations and Marketing Co. advanced 1.57 percent and 1.13 percent, respectively.
Losses were led by Al Masar Al Shamil Education Co., which tumbled 8.36 percent to SR24.65. Raoom Trading Co.fell 6.75 percent to SR64.20, while Alkhaleej Training and Education Co. dropped 6.60 percent to SR18.12 and Naqi Water Co. declined 5.51 percent to SR54.00. Gulf General Cooperative Insurance Co. closed 5.44 percent lower at SR3.65.
On the announcement front, Chubb Arabia Cooperative Insurance Co. signed a multiyear insurance agreement with Saudi Electricity Co. to provide various coverages, expected to positively impact its financial results over the 2025–2026 period. The deal will run for three years and two months and is within the company’s normal course of business.
Meanwhile, Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance Co. announced a one-year health insurance contract with Saudi National Bank, valued at SR330.2 million, covering the bank’s employees and their families from January 2026. Despite the sizable contract, Bupa Arabia shares fell 0.8 percent to close at SR137, weighed down by the broader market weakness.
In contrast, United Cooperative Assurance Co. revealed an extension of its engineering insurance agreement with Saudi Binladin Group for the Grand Mosque expansion in Makkah. The contract value exceeds 20 percent of the company’s gross written premiums based on its latest audited financials and is expected to support results through 2026. However, the stock came under selling pressure, ending the session down 4.51 percent at SR3.39.
