The barrel of Brent from the North Sea closed on Friday at 118.11 dollars, a level it had not reached since August 2008, galvanized by the de facto cessation of Russian exports.
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The price per barrel of this variety of oil for delivery in May, the most traded in London, gained another 6.92% during Friday’s session.
Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine eight days ago, Brent has gained 21.9%.
In New York, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) with maturity in April, jumped 7.43% on Friday, to end at 115.68 dollars, a first since September 2008.
“As long as the war continues, as there is so much uncertainty and the fear of seeing Russian barrels taken off the market, prices will remain high,” commented Matt Smith, head of oil analysis at Kpler.
According to several media, the Shell company bought a shipment of 100,000 tons of Russian crude on Friday at a discount of 28.5 dollars per barrel compared to the reference price, unheard of.
Listen to Mario Dumont’s interview with Guillaume Lavoie, associate member of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair and observer in Ukraine 3 times on QUB radio:
“There are cargoes that are traded in the Black Sea with a discount of 20 dollars (a barrel) and which do not find takers”, explained, on Wednesday, the CEO of the shipping company International Seaways, Lois Zabrocky. .
On Friday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the Biden administration was exploring possible “options” “to reduce (the) consumption of Russian energy” by the United States.
However, she warned that the White House was also concerned about minimizing the impact for consumers.
Pump prices continue to rise in the United States, and the price per gallon (3.78 liters) of regular gasoline in California crossed $5 on Friday for the first time.
“We will have to find elsewhere the barrels that Russia no longer supplies,” explained Matt Smith.
“In the coming weeks, you will probably see barrels coming from the United States, Africa or the Middle East to supply Europe”, he anticipated, “if the situation does not change” in Ukraine.