An official from Europe said that on Thursday, the United States was "not convinced" by the idea of lowering the price cap for Russian crude oil set by the Group of Seven Nations (G7).

The European Union proposed lowering the cap to a level indicative of $50 per barrel. The cap was agreed in 2022 to prevent Russian oil from being sold to a third country using Western insurance services, if the price of oil exceeded $60 per barrel. This would hit Moscow's revenue. Ukraine has demanded a price even lower at $30 per barrel.

On the sidelines the G7 Finance Ministers' Meeting in Banff (Canada), the European official who didn't want to be named said that the U.S. Treasury team was of the opinion that oil prices are already dropping and that this is hurting Russia. The European official, however, said that the U.S. was still open to this idea and the discussions would continue.

The U.S. Treasury didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for comment.

Brent oil futures have been at multi-year lows since April, and they continue to be depressed due to the impact of U.S. Tariff threats on global economic predictions. Brent oil futures traded at $64 per barrel on Thursday. Urals, the main crude oil grade in Russia, trades around $10 below Brent's benchmark.

The EU, along with its Western allies, has been cracking down more and more on Russia's "shadow fleet" of tankers. These players are working to circumvent the cap. The EU has adopted its 17th package of measures aimed at Russia’s shadow fleet, as well as Russian oil producer Surgutneftegaz.

Valdis Dombrovskis, EU executive vice president, told Banff reporters that the meeting included discussions about more sanctions against Russia. This includes EU ideas for energy. Dombrovskis refused to provide any details. (Reporting and editing by Julia Payne; Susan Fenton, William Maclean)

(source: Reuters)