Russia will respond to oil price caps by shipping more to Asia: energy minister

Finance ministers of US, Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, France and Canada gave a green light to Russian crude price capping idea to reduce Moscow's revenue

A well head and drilling rig in the Yarakta oilfield, owned by Irkutsk Oil Company (INK), in the Irkutsk region, Russia, Mar 11, 2019. REUTERS

Russia will respond to price caps on Russian oil by shipping more supply to Asia, its energy minister Nikolai Shulginov told reporters at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Tuesday.

"Any actions to impose a price cap will lead to deficit on (initiating countries') own markets and will increase price volatility," he said.

Finance ministers of the United States, Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, France and Canada gave a green light last week to the idea of capping the price of Russian crude to reduce Moscow's revenue in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Before Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February, around half of Russia's crude and petroleum product exports went to Europe, according to the International Energy Agency.