US reassures OPEC that the Russian oil price cap won't be replicated to also target the cartel, report says

• The US has reassured OPEC that a cap on Russian oil prices isn't also intended for the cartel, a Treasury official told Reuters.
• The official also said that the proposed cap on Russian oil isn't the beginning of a buyers' cartel meant to counter OPEC.

The US has told OPEC that a proposed cap on Russian oil prices won't later be repurposed to also target the cartel, a Treasury official told Reuters.

The official also said that the price cap plan isn't the beginning of a buyers' cartel that's meant to counter OPEC's sway over oil markets.

The US reassurances could help remedy increasingly strained relations between the US and de facto OPEC leaders Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this month, OPEC and allies non-member allies like Russia slashed its oil output quota by 2 million barrels a day despite pleas from Washington to boost production.

The White House accused the so-called OPEC+ coalition of aligning with Russia, and President Joe Biden warned Saudi Arabia would face consequences.

US officials have said the OPEC+ cut was retaliation for efforts to cap Russian oil prices. OPEC members have said the quota reduction wasn't a political decision. Saudi Arabia has also said the actual reduction in supply would be closer to 1 million bpd because some OPEC members have been pumping below their quotas.

The price cap is meant to coincide with the EU's embargo on seaborne Russian oil imports that will go into effect on December 5. The idea is to avoid a supply shock that will boost oil prices by creating a loophole in the EU embargo to keep Russian crude flowing to global markets while also limiting Moscow's revenue.

The G7 and the EU have approved it but key details remain, while Russia's top oil customers like China and India haven't signed on.