According to four sources in the European Union who spoke to Reuters following a meeting held on Sunday, EU envoys are close to reaching an agreement on the eighteenth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes lowering the price cap on Russian oil.
The sources indicated that all elements of the sanctions package had been agreed upon, except for a technical reservation from one member state regarding the new price cap. The sources added that a final agreement is expected to be reached today, Monday, ahead of the foreign ministers' meeting scheduled to take place in Brussels tomorrow, where the package is likely to be officially adopted.
The envoys also agreed on a dynamic pricing mechanism for the Russian oil price cap, where the European Commission suggested on Friday to set a flexible price cap for Russian crude oil that is 15% lower than the average global crude oil price over the previous three months.
One of the sources explained that the initial price would be around $47 per barrel, based on the average price of Russian oil over the past 22 weeks after a 15% discount. This price is scheduled to be reviewed every six months, rather than every three months as initially proposed.
