US seeks to reassure over Russia price cap

The looming move threatens additional uncertainty and risk for the energy markets this winter

The proposed price cap on Russian crude and products is “innovative, and very different from typical sanctions measures”, Ben Harris, assistant secretary for economic policy at the US Department of the Treasury, told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London. And there has been considerable “misunderstanding” over the plans, he suggests. Russia benefitted from inflated prices after its invasion of Ukraine, and the EU subsequently imposed packages of restrictions in response. The price cap should be seen as a “release valve” or extension to the sixth sanctions package, Harris explains, although the EU has since announced a total of eight such packages. The intention is to “preserve the trade of