Urals, Russia's main export crude, traded near $50 a barrel on 24-25 June, widening the Brent-Urals discount to about $221. That holds Russian crude roughly six dollars above the EU's frozen $44.10 price cap, but around nine dollars below the $59 benchmark the Russian federal budget is built on. A week ago Urals sat 8.81% above that cap; the floor has dropped clean through Moscow's fiscal line.
Below $59, every barrel Russia ships funds less of the budget it was meant to cover. No OFAC designation of a P&I club, a shadow-fleet operator or a single vessel landed in the 22-26 June window, so the price discount, not enforcement, is carrying the squeeze. The EU cap binds on paper at $44.10; the market has already taken Urals under the line that matters to Kremlin spending.
