Estonia, Lithuania and Poland proposed that the cap, which was set at $60 per barrel in December, be cut to no more than $51.45, according to people familiar with the matter. That would put it 5% below market prices, they argue.
Representatives of the bloc’s 27 member states are due to start discussions on Wednesday on a review of the oil price ceiling that the Group of Seven and the EU put into place late last year.
The three states have long called for a more robust approach to sanctions against Moscow.
While the EU agreed to review its crude oil price cap level every two months, when the first assessment came due in January the US and allies preferred to keep the threshold at $60. They argued the new mechanism is already working and the topic would be raised in March.
The oil cap has the dual aim of trying to keep Russian oil flowing while also limiting Moscow’s income from exports. With Russia’s oil sales revenues at $13 billion in January, the proposed reduction of the price cap would have driven them down by $650 million, according to calculation by the three east European countries.
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