Commission notice related to the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/124 on the average market price for Russian crude oil over the monitoring period (15 July 2025 until 15 December 2025) and the new price cap level for Russian crude
Date: 2026-02-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission
Subjects: Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Russia, Ukraine, average price, crude oil, economic sanctions, international sanctions, market prices, maximum price, trade restriction








C_202601098EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/1098


17.2.2026






Commission notice related to the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/124 on the average market price for Russian crude oil over the monitoring period (15 July 2025 until 15 December 2025) and the new price cap level for Russian crude
(C/2026/1098)



                     15 January 2026
                  

According to Council Regulation (EU) 2025/1494 of 18 July 2025
            
             (1) the Commission shall ‘monitor Russian crude oil prices on the basis of price assessments provided by authorised reporting agencies. Based on that data, the Commission shall calculate the average market price of Russian crude oil over a period of 22 weeks starting as of 15 July 2025 and for an equivalent period of 22 weeks every six months thereafter. In order to remain effective in achieving its objectives, including its ability to reduce Russia’s oil revenues, the price cap shall be set equal to that average market price for Russian crude oil minus 15 %. Should the newly calculated price vary by 5 % or less from the applicable price cap, the price cap shall not be amended.’
         
The Commission services have completed this first review in accordance with paragraph 11 of Article 3n of Council Regulation (EU) 833/2014 (2) and determined the average market price of Russian crude oil. The average market price for Russian crude oil (FOB Urals) over the monitoring period (22-week period from 15 July 2025 until 15 December 2025) is:

51,9 USD/barrel

The next notice concerning the average market price for the 22-week period from 15 January 2026 to 17 June 2026 will be published on 15 July 2026.

Methodology for the calculation of the oil price cap:

The methodology used by Commission services is based on price assessments from two reporting agencies, Platts and Argus, both of which are listed in the EU Register of administrators and benchmarks.
The Free on Board (FOB) Urals prices from the Black Sea and Baltic Sea were considered. The simple daily averages of the available prices for these two locations were calculated separately and then averaged. An average of all daily figures over the 22-week period from 15 July 2025 until 15 December 2025 was calculated and subsequently reduced by 15 % to establish the new price cap level of


44,1 USD/barrel.

The newly calculated price varies by 7 % (more than the de minimis value of 5 % for which no changes to the price cap level are foreseen). The new price cap will therefore be effective 1 February 2026. Existing contracts benefit from a transition period of 90 days calculated as of 15 January 2026.


(1)  
            OJ L, 2025/1494, 19.7.2025, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2025/1494/oj.

(2)  
            OJ L 229, 31.7.2014, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2014/833/oj.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/1098/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)