BRUSSELS, Dec 2 — European Union member states are close to agreeing a US$60 (RM264) dollar per barrel price cap on Russian oil, diplomats said Thursday, with just Poland left to give the final nod.

Europe will begin enforcing an embargo on Russian crude shipments from Monday, so the price cap will apply to oil exported by sea by Moscow to ports around the world.

Measures will be taken to prevent tankers from shipping Russian oil sold above this price, for example by refusing to allow British and EU insurers to cover vessels and shipments.

The EU was already in agreement with Washington on the need to cap the price Western clients pay for Russia’s oil, to prevent Moscow profiting from price rises triggered by its own war on Ukraine.

The European Commission had suggested the ceiling along with an order that if the trading price of oil falls below US$60 then the cap will be cut until it is 5 per cent lower than the market.

The price of Urals Crude, the main variety sold by Russia, is volatile but it was trading at around US$65 per barrel as EU ambassadors met to discuss the level of the cap.

But Poland, a strong supporter of its neighbour Ukraine in the battle against the Kremlin’s forces, had been holding out for a lower sum, reportedly closer to just US$30 a barrel.

As talks continued in Brussels, diplomats from several member states said Poland had not explicitly opposed the US$60 decision, and said they expected agreement soon.

Last week, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had warned that any attempt by the West to cap the price of Russian oil would have "grave consequences” for world markets.

But Washington and several of its allies — the Group of Seven major industrialised democracies, the EU and Australia — have vowed to go ahead.

Oil ministers from the Opec+ oil producers group will meet in Vienna on Sunday. — AFP