WASHINGTON, April 3 (Reuters) - The G7 price cap on
Russian oil shipments is cutting the revenue that Moscow has
available to support its invasion of Ukraine, and the
mechanism's effectiveness is helped by the recent actions of
Indian refiners, U.S. officials will say in New Delhi on
Thursday, according to prepared remarks.
The U.S. Treasury officials, Eric Van Nostrand, assistant
secretary for economic policy, and Anna Morris, acting assistant
secretary for terrorist financing, will make the remarks at an
event held by the Ananta Aspen Centre in New Delhi, the Treasury
told Reuters on Wednesday.
"We know that the Indian economy has much at stake in the
Russian oil trade, and has much at stake from the global supply
disruptions that the price cap is designed to avoid," the
officials will say.
India has been one of the top consumers of Russian oil since
Western sanctions have shifted the market for the crude from
Europe to Asia, imposing costs on Russia for relying on a
"shadow fleet" of aging tankers to ship it further.
New Delhi has traditionally had close economic and defense
ties with Moscow and refrained from criticizing Russia over its
war in Ukraine. But last week the foreign ministers of Ukraine
and India said they had agreed to restore trade and cooperation
to levels before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The price cap imposed by the G7 countries, the European
Union and Australia bans the use of Western maritime services
such as insurance, flagging and transportation when tankers
carry Russian oil priced at or above $60 a barrel. The West
imposed the mechanism after Russia's February 2022 invasion of
Ukraine.
The U.S. officials are in India this week meeting with
government officials and business leaders to discuss cooperation
on anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism,
and implementation of the price cap.
Since October, the U.S. has enforced the price cap with
sanctions including designating in February Sovcomflot (SCF),
Russia's state-owned shipping company.
The actions on Russia are helped by moves by international
refiners, including India's Reliance Industries, to
not buy Russian oil loaded on SCF tankers, the officials will
say.
"Our efforts are bolstered by international support for
these enforcement actions, like the recent decision from private
and publicly owned refineries to halt imports on Sovcomflot
ships," the Treasury officials will say.
Enforcement of the price cap on Russian oil has hit the
price that Russia can get for its oil in global markets,
reducing revenues for its war on Ukraine, the officials will
say.
The Treasury estimates that the discount of Russian Urals
oil to the Brent international benchmark has widened from about
$12-$13 a barrel before October to $18 in January and to about
$17 to $18 in February, the last month with data available, the
officials will say.
"The United States, together with the rest of the (price
cap) coalition, will need to remain vigilant and ensure that the
policy, its implementation, and enforcement are deployed to
inflict financial burden on Russia and keep global energy
markets stable," the officials will say.