Oil jumped after the US announced sanctions on Russia's biggest producers, as President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on his counterpart Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
West Texas Intermediate surged as much as 2.8% to trade above $60 after the US blacklisted state-run giant Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC, citing Moscow's lack of commitment to Ukrainian peace. Trump is also seeking to squeeze Russia's key crude buyers — India and China. Brent closed above $62 on Wednesday.
The sanctions mark a U-turn for Trump, who had announced last week he would meet Putin in the coming weeks and said repeatedly he believed Russia wanted to end the war. But on Tuesday, he said he didn't want a wasted meeting.
Following the sanctions, Trump said he planned to speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping about the nation's purchases of Russian oil at a planned meeting next week in South Korea. On Tuesday, the US president said India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him during a phone call that the country would wind down its purchases of barrels from Moscow.
European Union countries have also reached agreement on a new package of sanctions targeting Russia that are expected to be adopted on Thursday. The measures will target 45 entities that have helped the OPEC+ producer evade sanctions, including 12 companies in China and Hong Kong, according to a statement from Denmark, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Rosneft, headed by Putin's close ally Igor Sechin, and privately held Lukoil, are the two largest Russian oil producers, jointly accounting for nearly a half of the nation's total exports — or around 2.2 million barrels a day in the first half of this year, according to Bloomberg estimates. Taxes from the oil and gas industries account for about a quarter of the federal budget.
Oil has bounced back from a five-month low reached on Monday, on signs the latest selloff was overdone and as a drop in US crude inventories helped ease oversupply concerns. Still, futures remain on track for a third monthly loss as signs of a global surplus put downward pressure on prices.
Source: Bloomberg
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one ...
Oil prices rose on Wednesday (February 11th), supported by a combination of geopolitical risk premiums from US-Iran tensions and more solid Asian demand signals particularly from India which helped ea...
Oil remained in the green zone on Tuesday (February 10th), as the market refused to abandon the Middle East risk premium. As of 13:07 GMT (20:07 WIB), Brent rose +0.4% to $69.32/barrel, while WTI rose...
Oil prices fell about 1% on Monday as concerns about conflict in the Middle East eased slightly. The market calmed after the US and Iran agreed to resume talks on Tehran's nuclear program, reducing fe...
Oil prices moved slightly higher in a volatile session on Friday, as investors assessed the direction of nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran. Price movements appeared sensitive to ...
Oil prices stabilized on Thursday (February 12th), as the market reassigned a risk premium to US-Iran tensions despite US inventory data showing swelling domestic supplies. This movement confirms one thing: geopolitical headlines are still more...
Gold prices weakened slightly on Thursday (February 12th), as more solid US employment data reduced market confidence in an imminent Federal Reserve interest rate cut. The strong employment data prompted market participants to shift expectations of...
The Hang Seng Index reversed its downward trend in Hong Kong on Thursday (February 12th), weakening by around 0.9% to around 27,000 after a strong session earlier. This decline halted the momentum of the short term rally, as investors began to...