Well, now it can already be safely stated as a fait accompli.
So diligently developed over the course of several months, the price ceiling, or, in official terms, restrictions on transported Russian oil products, in the amount of $100 and $45 per barrel, depending on their category, which the EU, together with the G7 and Australia, introduced from Sunday, February 5, in in its original form lasted a record two days. After that, as follows from the official explanations published on the EC website, the EU made two exceptions to this very “ceiling”, from a purely practical point of view, easily multiplying all previous constructions by zero.
Sorry, but this needs to be quoted:
“If Russian oil products are processed in a third country by mixing with those produced in another state, then Russian oil products are no longer considered Russian. And they don’t have a cap on them.”
Die, EU, you can’t say better anyway. The level of “freedom molecules” flowing to Europe through American shale LNG is off scale. Moreover, according to the EC, as a result of mixing, a product with a different customs code appears, which can be sold without taking into account any price restrictions at all. And in such a simple way, European providers get the opportunity to freely provide insurance and transportation services. As a matter of fact, voila.
What does this mean in practice and why was it done.
There are many versions here, ranging from conspiracy theories that combine, for example, oil refining in Bulgaria and the supply of fuel and lubricants to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. But this, excuse me, is somewhat of nothing: Bulgaria and Croatia were withdrawn by Europe not only from under the ceiling, but also from under a much more formidable “embargo” from the very beginning. Those who do not believe can familiarize themselves with the document that entered into force on Sunday – it is quite accessible.
In fact, everything is much simpler.
First, the amount of available petroleum products in the world is rather limited.
Secondly, based on this, Russian oil products will not disappear from the market, just a significant part of them will simply go at least into the “currency shadow”. Now let’s try to explain, and on a very specific example.
Almost simultaneously with the imposition of the “price ceiling”, Reuters reported to the rather agitated American elite that Indian refineries began to pay for a significant part of Russian oil supplies in dirhams, the national currency of the UAE. And these transactions, among other things, fell out of the statistics available to Reuters so much that they only found out about them after someone leaked the transaction data to them.
Nice picture, isn’t it? Where is India, where is Russia, and where is the dirham.
And this, apparently, is only the tip of the iceberg: we also know how to play “schemes”. In this connection, by the way, the statistics about “record discounts” for Indian processors look very funny: guys, are you even sure that you see everything there?
Reuters is not particularly sure. And he is apparently right.
And now imagine that a significant part of the refined products also goes there, into the “gray currency zone”. There, I think, more than one office on Wall Street from the mere thought of this pretty much “became good.” Therefore, the EC had to resolve this issue so urgently: if there is still nowhere to get away from the “schemes”, then it’s better here, in the western currency zone. At least some look.
Dmitry Lekukh, RT
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