Europe Resists US Push on Oil-Price Cap

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European officials are pushing back on an idea promoted by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that’s aimed at setting a price cap on Russian oil sales. One alternative would involve easing the EU’s ban on insurance for crude shipments from Russia by linking it to prices — a step that would require reopening the penalties text that took weeks of agonizing talks to hash out. Yellen wants to avoid spillover effects from high oil prices but some European countries are leery of anything that could reignite already settled arguments and weaken the sanctions regime. Meanwhile, a separate Italian proposal to cap natural-gas prices in Europe is gaining traction across the region as countries increasingly see it as the “only solution” to soaring costs, Energy Minister Roberto Cingolani said yesterday.