Secretary Yellen is touring Asia with stops in Japan, South Korea and Indonesia this week to drum up support for the U.S. idea of capping the price of Russian crude oil exports.
Yellen first discussed the idea of a price cap on Russian oil with China during an online meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He last week, the secretary told the WSJ.
“They listened and were prepared to have further discussions with us on this,” Secretary Yellen told the paper.
China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, is also a major importer of Russian oil.
Last week, tanker tracking data showed China likely imported another 2 million barrels per day (bpd) of discounted Russian crude in June after bringing in about the same record amount in May. That kept Russia as China’s top oil supplier ahead of Saudi Arabia for the second consecutive month.
After their summit in Germany last month, leaders of the G7 group of the world’s leading industrialized nations called on all importing countries to consider a cap on the price of Russian oil.
“We will consider a range of approaches, including options for a possible blanket ban on all services that allow the transportation of Russian crude oil and marine petroleum products worldwide, unless the oil is purchased at or below a price to be agreed in consultation with the international partners,” the G7 leaders said in their final statement.
Countries are still considering a price cap for Russia’s oil, but face a difficult balancing act between trying to limit the Kremlin’s oil revenue, the biggest contributor to Vladimir Putin’s war chest, and not increasing of international crude prices.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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