The European Union may freeze its cap on Russian oil prices rather than let an automatic formula loosen it, Bloomberg reported. The step would anchor the bloc's 21st sanctions package, aimed at draining Moscow's energy income and cutting its access to war supplies. Driving the rethink is a problem Brussels never designed the system for: a war in the Middle East.
Why freeze instead of cut
The bloc adopted a moving target last year. Every six months, the cap resets to 15% below the average market price for Russian Urals crude. That formula now sits at $44.10 a barrel, the same line the EU, UK, and others hold. When crude trades above it, European firms cannot insure or carry the cargo.
Washington's Iran war changed the math. With prices high and the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut, the July review would likely lift the ceiling to at least $65 a barrel, above the old $60 G7 level. A freeze would instead lock the current level in place. Officials are weighing two fallbacks as well: suspend the automatic rises through year-end, or hold any increase to the old G7 figure.
EU’s 21st Russia sanctions package will target the shadow fleet, banks, and firms selling stolen Ukrainian grain—Politico
What else the package targets
The freeze would be part of a wider round of measures the bloc wants to put forward in early June. New listings would target additional banks, refineries, oil traders, and the crypto desks abroad that help push Russian crude past the cap.
About 20 more tankers from Russia's shadow fleet would face blacklisting, the aging vessels Moscow uses to ship oil around the rules. Eventually, the bloc would stretch that net to ships hauling liquefied natural gas, closing off a gas shadow fleet before it forms. A full ban on maritime services stays off the table for now, as several member states remain wary amid the Middle East's churn.
Brussels would also squeeze the supply side. Export controls could land on about two dozen firms in China, India, Türkiye, and Central Asia, accused of feeding Russia restricted goods. Trade curbs are in play for metals, ores, and the critical minerals that feed Russian aerospace and the drones hitting Ukrainian cities.
The bloc is also working to shield Euroclear, the Brussels clearing house, after a Moscow court ruling opened the door for Russia's central bank to claim its assets. Most of the roughly €210 billion ($245 billion) in immobilized Russian central-bank funds sits there.
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