After the first days of the oil price cap, Moscow wants to focus on the price floor

Responding to the price ceiling with a “floor” would mean on the one hand accepting the logic of sanctions and on the other setting a downward limit, giving traders the benchmark for a negotiation which can only result in offers closer to the minimum limit than to the maximum limit

Two days after the entry into force of the embargo of the European Union and the price cap of the G7 are at least 22 tankers blocked for checks between the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. Turkey is taking all the time it deems necessary to check the validity of the insurances of ships carrying Russian oil through the Black Sea. Ankara wants to make sure that ships passing through its straits are covered against the risk of potentially very serious accidents, such as collisions and oil spills. Real risks, which must be covered by reliable insurance companies recognized throughout the world. The price cap prohibits ships carrying Russian crude from accessing Western insurance (by far the best) unless it is sold below $60 a barrel.