UK hopeful of G7 agreement on Russian oil export price cap

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is hopeful that G7 ministers will agree on Friday to a price cap scheme for Russian oil exports, finance minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Thursday.

Western leaders have proposed an oil price cap to limit how much refiners and traders can pay for Russian crude – a move Moscow says it will not abide by and can thwart by shipping oil to states not obeying the price ceiling.

“We want to get this oil price cap over the line,” he told a think tank event during a visit to the United States. He said it would help ensure there was no oil price shock next year.

“We have an important meeting tomorrow with the G7 finance ministers, and I’m hopeful we’ll be able to have a statement that will mean that we can move forward at pace to deliver this.”

The G7 consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

(Reporting by William James, editing by Elizabeth Piper)