The head of French energy major TotalEnergies said Wednesday that a possible price cap on Russian oil over the Ukraine war would benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The group’s chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne made the remarks at the Energy Intelligence Forum industry gathering in central London.
“Honestly, I am not sure that a price cap on Russian oil is a good idea,” Pouyanne told delegates when questioned about recent G7 moves towards such a policy.
“I think it’s a bad idea because it’s a way to give the leadership back to (Russian President) Vladimir Putin and I would never do that.”
The European Union had last week proposed a new round of sanctions on Moscow, including the oil price cap.
As part of the new round of sanctions — which has to be signed off by the bloc’s 27 nations — the EU is laying out a legal basis for a price cap on Russian oil, in line with a G7 agreement.
“What I am sure is that if we do that (cap), then Putin will say that ‘we don’t sell my oil’ — and the price will not be at $95, it will be at $150. I would not give that to Vladimir Putin.”
The remarks came the same day that OPEC and its Russian-led allies agreed a major output cut, removing two million barrels per day from November in order to boost oil prices.
“There is a reason why Russia is ready to participate with an OPEC cut — because they are not sure whether they will find somebody to buy this oil,” noted Pouyanne.
Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden had already stated at the same London event on Tuesday that it was unclear how effective a price cap on Russian crude would be.
Russia warned Wednesday that a potential price cap on Russian oil would have a “detrimental effect” on global markets.
“Such a tool disrupts all market mechanisms and can have a very detrimental effect on the global oil industry,” deputy prime minister Alexander Novak told Russian state television.
Novak said Russian companies would “not supply oil to those countries” that introduce such a cap.
