The G7 and Australia have agreed to adopt a $US60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil, acting shortly after the European Union reached unanimous agreement on the same price earlier in the day.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Friday's move is a key step as Western sanctions aim to reorder the global oil market to prevent price spikes and starve President Vladimir Putin of funding for his war in Ukraine.
Europe needed to set the discounted price that other nations will pay by Monday, when an EU embargo on Russian oil shipped by sea and a ban on insurance for those supplies take effect.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the agreement would help nations taking part in the plan achieve the goal of restricting Putin's "primary source of revenue for his illegal war in Ukraine while simultaneously preserving the stability of global energy supplies".
"Today's announcement is the culmination of months of effort by our coalition, and I commend the hard work of our partners in achieving this outcome," she said.
The agreement comes after a last-minute flurry of negotiations. Poland long held up an EU agreement, seeking to set the cap as low as possible. Following more than 24 hours of deliberations, when other EU nations had signaled they would back the deal, Warsaw finally relented late on Friday.
A joint G7 coalition statement on Friday said the group was "prepared to review and adjust the maximum price as appropriate", taking into account market developments and potential impacts on coalition members and low and middle-income countries.
Australian Associated Press
