The impact of Russia’s flagship Urals crude breaching the $60-per-barrel price cap imposed by the G7 nations is expected to be muted on New Delhi’s oil trade with Moscow in the immediate to near term with no major bearing seen on supplies, but a sustained closing of the gap between prices of Urals and other key international crude oil grades and benchmarks could take some sheen off Russian oil for Indian refiners going ahead, according to international oil market watchers.
As per assessments by leading pricing firms Argus Media and S&P Global Platts, Urals crude topped the key price level of $60 per barrel this week. This is the first instance of Urals breaching the US-led G7 price cap on Russian seaborne crude, which took effect from early December. The price limit forbids transportation of Russian oil on Western ships and use of Western insurance services if the cargoes are priced over $60 per barrel. It was formulated with the objective of limiting Russia’s earnings from oil exports in the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine, while keeping global oil markets well-supplied.
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