Report: US asks South Korea to slap price cap on Russian oil

MOSCOW, Jun 30 (PRIME) -- The U.S. has asked South Korea to impose a price cap on Russian oil in the framework of sanctions, Yonhap News reported late on Wednesday quoting sources.

The sources told the news agency that the request was submitted by U.S. Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson during his recent visit to Seoul. The anti-Russian sanctions can become the main discussion point during a visit of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen to South Korea next month.

Bloomberg reported that oil giant Shell CEO Ben van Beurden was very skeptical about the suggestion to cap the price of Russian oil.

The plan will function only if a large number of countries outside Europe and the U.S. join it. Otherwise, Russia will redirect its crude to the countries that are satisfied with their ties with Moscow, he said as quoted by Bloomberg.

Europe will start receiving more liquefied natural gas, but the additional supplies will not compensate lower supplies of Russian energy. The situation with oil is not much better, as OPEC has less free capacities than expected, Beurden said.

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