London CNN —The price of Russian crude oil has risen above a price cap set by the Group of Seven nations, in the first “real test” of whether the West can enforce one of its key sanctions against Moscow. “This is the first real test of the price cap sanctions,” Matthew Wright, a senior freight analyst at Kpler, told CNN. “High interest rates, declining economic activity in China, and a potential recession in the West,” have depressed oil prices globally. The smaller gap shows that the G7 price cap is “having a diminishing impact on Russian oil revenues,” Richard Bronze, co-founder and head of geopolitics at Energy Aspects, told CNN. Despite rising oil prices, buyers like India are unlikely to turn their backs on Russian oil, said Wright at Kpler.

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Persons: ” Matthew Wright, Wright, “ It’s, Russia —, That’s, ” Richard Bronze, Natalia Kolesnikova, “, Tim Lister Organizations: London CNN, Group, Moscow, Argus Media, European Union, Argus, EU, CNN, Organization of, Petroleum, Gazprom, US Treasury, International Energy Agency, IEA Locations: China, India, Europe, Russia, OPEC, Ukraine, Brent, Moscow, AFP, Western, Kpler, Russian, Saudi Arabia