U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed confidence that restrictions on Russian sales of crude oil can be expanded to refined petroleum products in February, while acknowledging that the task will be more complicated.
“We’ve studied these markets very carefully and believe we’re going to come out with a set of caps that will achieve the same things that we’ve achieved with crude so far,” Yellen told reporters Saturday during a visit to Dakar, Senegal. There’s always a chance, she said, that things may not go according to plan.
Group of Seven governments and the European Union in December set a limit – at $60 a barrel – on the price that shippers can pay for Russian oil and still use European and U.K. firms that provide vital support services, like insurance. It was imposed at the same time the EU banned its countries from most Russian oil imports.
