DISINFO: The price cap on Russian oil will destroy the EU
SUMMARY
The price cap on Russian oil means that there will be a huge deficit (because Russia will not sell oil to Europe). The prices of energy will grow very fast, destroying the European Union.
RESPONSE
Recurring manipulation of the discussions about the energy sector and sanctions on Russia.
The price cap for Russian oil was initiated by G7 states and supported by the EU as an additional sanction for Russia’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. It was noted that:
The price cap on Russian oil will limit price surges driven by extraordinary market conditions and drastically reduce the revenues Russia has earned from oil after it unleashed its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. It will also serve to stabilise global energy prices while mitigating adverse consequences on energy supply to third countries.
The price cap on Russian oil is a novel instrument which the energy market has not seen in recent years. This could give a period of uncertainty. On the other hand, the statement that it “will destroy the EU” is a manipulative one. The impact will be not so critical. This article from “the New York Times” mentioned that:
(the processes around the price cap)…are not expected to have a sudden impact on oil supplies for Europe, because the regulation has been in the works for months and so traders and shippers have had time to adjust. In particular, energy companies have already begun buying more oil from the United States, Brazil, Guyana and the Middle East. The European Union is also giving exemptions to some countries like Hungary, whose energy needs depend on flows of Russian crude by pipeline, to quell their objections to the sanctions.
The claim seeks to distract attention away. The price cap is the biggest problem for Russia, not Europe. It is predicted that Russian oil output is set to fall by 1.4 million barrels per day next year. Chatham House provides a prognosis that “one particularly important point when it comes to oil, energy, and commodity markets has been how market forces have mitigated Russia’s own efforts to use the energy card against the West, particularly against Europe”.
See other similar cases of disinformation promising that sanctions on Russia, in reality, will disintegrate the EU, that the EU is behind the energy, food and economic crisis, or that the West destroyed the economies of the EU and US.