Greek shippers return to Russian oil market as prices slip below G7 cap, sources say

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Greek shipowners are returning to Russia's Urals oil market as the price slides below the Western price cap of $60 per barrel, allowing them to provide transport and insurance services while complying with sanctions, three trading sources said.

The price cap introduced by the Group of Seven countries does not allow Western companies to provide insurance and transport services for Russian oil sold above $60 per barrel at the port of loading.

Most Western shipowners have refrained from working with Russian oil since December 2022 as relatively high oil prices kept Urals close to, or above, the price cap. Tankers managed by companies from countries that didn't join the price cap policy have been main shippers of Russian oil since then.

In April, a number of Greek shipowners including Minerva Marine, Dynacom and TMS Tankers provided vessels for Russian oil shipments, according to three sources in shipping and trading. These companies were not present in the Russian oil market last year, the sources said.

The three shippers didn't reply to Reuters' requests for comment.

The fall in world oil prices this spring due to global trade tensions has pushed Urals prices well below $60 per barrel on a free-on-board basis at Russian ports, allowing Western shipowners to return to working with Russian crude.

According to Reuters calculations, Urals shipments from Baltic ports and Novorossiisk on a FOB basis were valued slightly above $50 per barrel as of April 24.

According to LSEG data and sources in shipping and trading, 15 of 25 tankers loaded with Urals oil from the ports of Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk in April are managed by Greek shippers.

(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow. Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens. Editing by Mark Potter)