Russia building up shipping fleet to transport oil amid price cap: US
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A US Treasury official claims that Russia is trying to build up a "ghost fleet" to transport seven million barrels of oil a day.
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Tankers in Nakhodka Bay near the crude oil terminal Kozmino outside the port city of Nakhodka, Russia June 13, 2022 (Reuters)
Russia is developing a fleet of ships to transport oil worldwide amid a multilateral price cap coalition on Russian oil products, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Economic Policy Ben Harris claimed on Tuesday.
"Russia is trying to build up a shipping fleet," Harris said during an interview for the American Enterprise Institute.
He continued, "They produce a lot of oil. It takes a lot of ships to ship seven million barrels a day, and they’re not close to being able to control all of this yet."
The US official characterized the project as a "ghost fleet" due to its unknown size.
The claims come after the United States and other partner nations imposed a price cap on Russian oil products in an attempt to reduce the country’s revenues amid the war in Ukraine.
The Treasury Department has not seen evidence of evasion of the price cap by Russia, Harris said.
It is noteworthy that the Group of Seven (G7) is set to reevaluate the price cap this month to determine if any recalibrations are needed.
In early February, the G7 and Australia announced that they have agreed to implement a price cap on Russian oil shortly after the EU issued a similar announcement.
According to a statement issued by the alliance, they have agreed on two ceiling prices: the first is priced at $100 per barrel for more expensive fuel like diesel and the second at $45 on lower-quality commodities such as fuel oil.
Read more: Price cap on Russian oil created obstacles in energy markets: Chevron
