The Russian authorities have prepared a plan for creating a reference oil variety in response to the Western attempts to limit the country’s oil revenues, Bloomberg reports.
According to the document, which the agency, key Russian ministries, oil manufacturers and the Central Bank are planning to start the oil trade on the National Platform in October. According to the plan, Russia is going to attract foreign partners to this in order to achieve sufficient trade volumes to establish a benchmark from March to July 2023.
Two unnamed Russian officials confirmed Bloomberg that work is being done to create a reference oil variety in order to ensure the trade in raw materials without any external pressure or restrictions. According to one of the interlocutors, the proposal of the countries of the G7 (Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, France, Japan and the USA) establish the maximum price for Russian oil once again proved the need to create a Russian standard. According to the document, the plan “is at an early stage”.
At the end of June, Bloomberg reported that the “large seven” is considering the possibility of setting a ceiling of prices for Russian raw materials by restricting prices for its insurance and transportation. The fact that the countries of the G7 are considering the establishment of a ceiling of prices as a way to limit Russia’s income from energy are also written by Reuters. According to Bloomberg, we can talk about the price limitation of $ 40-60.
The main export variety of Russia is Urals. The price of a barrel of this brand is attached to the price of a barrel of the North Sea Brent with a discount. In May, the Urals discount to the world standard Brent reached 30%, writes RBC.