EU Prepared For Russian Oil Product Ban: EU Energy Commissioner

European and G7 countries have secured alternative fuel supplies and can draw on their strategic oil reserves to mitigate the impacts of the upcoming sanctions and price cap on Russian refined products, the EU's energy chief Kadri Simpson said.

• The EU will impose a ban on imports of Russian diesel, jet fuel and other oil products starting 5 Feb, while the G7 also plans to implement price caps on those products, though exact levels are still being discussed.
• "We believe that we gave sufficient time for our markets to react and find alternative supplies. We have mapped all of those alternative supplies. We believe that we are prepared, and on top of that, we do have strategic oil reserves [which] gives us additional confidence”, Simpson said.
• The EU's 27 member states are required to hold 60 days or more of refined product inventories in storage.
• Replacement origins for Russian oil products are Kuwait, which plans to ship 2.5mn mt of diesel, as well as double its exports of jet fuel to the EU to about 5mn mt and other Middle Eastern countries.