Japan defies US allies, purchases Russian oil above price cap.

Japan has started buying Russian crude oil above the $60-a-barrel cap, breaking with western allies thanks to an exception authorized by the United States. Japan heavily relies on imports for much of its energy needs and has almost no fossil fuels of its own. The G7 nations and Australia agreed to a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil to reduce Russia’s income from selling oil while preventing a spike in global oil prices. However, Japan was granted an exception to the cap through September, and in the first two months of this year, Japan bought around 748,000 barrels of Russian oil for approximately $70 a barrel.