Russian President Vladimir Putin has extended retaliatory measures against a price cap on its oil imposed by Western countries until the end of June 2024, according to a decree published on the governmental website on Monday. The price cap, aimed at crippling Moscow's military efforts in Ukraine, is unseen even in the times of the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union. Under the cap, oil traders who want to retain access to Western financing for crucial aspects of global shipping must promise not to pay above $60 per barrel for Russian seaborne oil.

In late January, the Russian government banned domestic oil exporters and customs bodies from adhering to Western-imposed price caps on Russian crude to help enforce Putin's decree of Dec. 27, 2022 that prohibited the supply of crude oil and oil products from Feb. 1, for five months, to nations that abide by the caps. The measure was then extended until the end of 2023. Russian officials have repeatedly said that almost all Russian oil is being sold above the cap.

Russia is the world's second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and any actual disruption to its sales would have far-reaching consequences for global energy supplies. The extended measures come as a response to the ongoing tensions between Russia and the West, and will have significant implications for the global oil market in the coming years.