According to CCTV news, on September 2, local time, the finance ministers of the Group of Seven issued a joint statement announcing that they had agreed to impose price caps on Russian oil and petroleum products. The statement said that shipments of oil and petroleum products will only be permitted if their prices are at or below the established price caps. At the same time, according to Xinhua News Agency, on September 2, Gazprom said that due to the discovery of multiple equipment failures, the " Beixi-1" natural gas pipeline will completely stop gas transmission until the fault is rectified.
Energy War Against Russia
"The G7 has imposed price caps on Russian oil and petroleum products, on the one hand, because of the need for political suppression, on the other hand, it also hopes to suppress international oil prices in order to stabilize the European energy crisis." China Social Science Wang Yongzhong, director of the International Commodities Research Office of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, told Tianmu News.
According to CCTV news, on September 2, local time, the Federal Minister of Finance of Germany, the rotating presidency of the G7, Lindner, pointed out that in the sixth set of sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia, it has decided to stop the import of Russian oil. He also said he hoped to minimize the impact of price caps on the global oil market.
CCTV News also reported that on September 1, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Novak, who is in charge of energy work, said that Russia would not supply oil and oil products to countries that support price caps on Russian oil, and that Russia refused to provide oil and oil products under non-market conditions. External oil supply.
Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov said on September 2 that European taxpayers will suffer if the price of Russian oil is capped. Peskov believes that the sanctions against Russia have led to a very big crisis in the European energy market. "In this case, Europeans buy liquefied natural gas from the United States at crazy and unreasonable costs, resulting in American companies getting richer and richer. , while European taxpayers are getting poorer and poorer.”
Yang Chengyu, associate researcher at Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also told Tianmu News that the G7’s move is essentially to limit Russia’s crude oil export revenue in the context of rising international oil prices , suppressing the Russian economy. In addition, this move may stimulate Russia to further restrict its energy supply to Europe, exacerbating energy shortages in Europe.
It is worth noting that the "Beixi-1" natural gas pipeline will be closed indefinitely. Prior to August 31, Russia shut down the only turbine in the Beixi-1 pipeline for maintenance for three days, during which time the supply of natural gas to Europe was stopped.
And this is the second time that "Beixi-1" has cut off the supply . In July, the "Beixi-1" gas supply was suspended for 10 days due to maintenance. After the overhaul was completed, the Russian side restored 40% of the natural gas supply before the overhaul, but then the supply was reduced to 20% due to turbine operation problems.
After Gazprom announced that the "Beixi-1" pipeline will completely stop gas transmission, the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection issued a statement on the 2nd saying that the current natural gas market situation is very tense.
Russia may be forced to accept the plan
"Although the G7 statement is not the final decision, if the price limit is confirmed, other countries may follow suit." Wang Yongzhong told Tianmu News reporter.
Wang Yongzhong believes that the current global large oil tankers and their insurance and financial services are controlled by Western countries, and oil tanker companies have to carefully consider the decisions of Western countries. "Once these companies are unable to carry the cargo, Russia's oil exports will be greatly reduced." Although Russia has said that it will not supply oil and oil products to countries that support price caps on Russian oil, the specific implementation may not be up to itself.
Huatai Futures believes that although Russian shipowners can theoretically provide tanker insurance through their domestic insurance companies, it is difficult to completely replace the role of Lloyd's of London and International Shipowners Mutual Insurance Association in tanker insurance, which will largely Restricting Russian exports to countries in Asia such as India is similar to the impact of previous Iran oil sanctions, where buyers will shy away from purchases due to the lack of tanker insurance for Russian crude.
Prior to this, when the EU imposed the sixth round of sanctions on Russia, the leaders of the EU member states had already agreed on an immediate partial ban on the import of Russian oil, covering more than two-thirds of the EU's oil imports from Russia, which are supplied through pipelines.Oil is a temporary exception. In addition, the leaders of EU member states also said that by the end of this year, oil imports from Russia will be cut by 90% to reduce the source of Russian funds.
"After G7 imposes a price limit on Russian oil, it may push the EU to limit the price of Russian oil, and then promote it on a global scale." Yang Chengyu said.
"After countries implement price caps, Russia may be forced to accept this plan, which will make international oil prices fall." Wang Yongzhong believes that when Russian oil prices are cheaper, countries may increase their oil purchases from Russia, thereby reducing other countries' oil purchases. Oil exports from oil-producing countries push down international oil prices.
Europe, a global environmental pioneer, has also begun to "activate" some of its deactivated coal power plants. On August 23, Germany announced that it would restart another backup coal power plant to save more natural gas and cope with winter energy needs. Germany's largest natural gas importer, Unipo, also resumed operation on August 29, the Hayden Coal Power Plant, one of Germany's largest coal power plants, and will operate until the end of April next year. At the same time, Europe is also increasing the diversification of energy sources, such as further purchasing energy from North Africa , Middle East , Norway and even the United States. In addition, it also includes accelerating the transformation of clean energy such as wind power .
