European Commission to push for EU price cap on Russian oil exports - EU commissioner for economy

BRUSSELS. Sept 2 (Interfax) - The G7 statement regarding a price cap on Russian oil is a major step forward in reducing Russia's oil earnings and putting pressure on the global energy prices, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said.

"The G7 will now work to establish a broad global coalition to finalise the design and level of the price cap and to implement it jointly, to maximize its effectiveness," Gentiloni stated in Brussels on Friday after attending a meeting of G7 finance ministers.

"The [European] Commission will play its full part in working to achieve unanimity among our 27 Member States in order to implement this measure in the EU," the statement said.

"Our aim is to do so in line with the timeline agreed under the EU's sixth sanctions package - meaning 5 December 2022 for crude oil and 5 February 2023 for petroleum products," it said.

The arrangement extends the agreed-on ban to all of the G7 nations, "while enabling the continued sale of Russian oil on global markets - at low prices," the statement said.

On Friday the G7 countries reaffirmed their aspiration to stop using Russian oil on their markets, but have no intention of preventing other parties from buying such oil for a price not exceeding the cap, the G7 said in a statement.

In it, the G7 countries confirm measures to gradually stop using Russian oil and petroleum products on their domestic markets and underscore that the price cap measure aims to ease pressure on the global oil prices and support oil importers worldwide.

The G7 countries are willing to support oil importers by ensuring their constant access to the Russian oil at capped prices, the statement said.