LONDON (Archyde.com) – Oil prices rose on Thursday, close to $120 a barrel, their highest level in nearly a decade, as sanctions hampered Russian oil sales, but the rally lost some of its momentum as prospects for an Iranian nuclear deal rose. Which may add supply to the market.
Brent crude prices rose to $119.84 a barrel, the highest level since 2012, and their prices received support from data that showed that US crude stocks reached their lowest level in years. But by 14:16 GMT, Brent crude had fallen to $112.75 a barrel. Brent has jumped by more than a third over the past month.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose to $116.57 a barrel, the highest level since 2008, before falling back to $109.66 a barrel.
Prices reversed course in early US trade following an Iranian reporter said on Twitter that a breakthrough had been made in talks aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal, which might mean the Islamic Republic’s oil might return to the market.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to visit Iran on Saturday, raising the prospects of an agreement.
Oil’s gains came earlier on Thursday following the latest round of US sanctions on Russia’s refining sector, raising fears that Russian oil and gas exports might be next targeted.
The OPEC Plus bloc, which includes member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, decided to increase production to the amount agreed upon in the production agreement, which is 400,000 barrels per day in March, despite the increase in prices and consumers’ demands for more crude.
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“OPEC Plus” raises production by 400,000 barrels in April
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
LONDON (Archyde.com) – OPEC Plus sources said today, Wednesday, that the oil producers’ bloc agreed to abide by plans to increase production by 400,000 barrels in April, despite a sharp jump in prices amid sanctions once morest Russia over its military attack on Ukraine. Oil topped $110 this week, its highest level in nearly eight years, as Western sanctions tightened the noose further on Moscow, disrupting supplies from Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter. The measures taken by the West have also caused problems with exports from Kazakhstan, which is also a member of “OPEC Plus”, which is made up of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and allied oil-producing countries. And “OPEC Plus” has increased production by 400,000 barrels every month since last August, in the context of reversing the production cuts they had decided due to the decrease in demand for oil due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Four sources in “OPEC Plus” said that the ministers in the bloc agreed to abide by the existing production plans during an online meeting that lasted less than a quarter of an hour. This also came following a recommendation not to change the existing plans at the meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee. “The participants rejected the geopolitical tension as an influencing factor in the meeting,” a source said earlier, in reference to the preparatory talks that took place earlier, and affirmed their commitment to the basic factors. Russia described its actions in Ukraine as a “special operation” and said it had no intention of occupying it. The United States has repeatedly called for an increase in the bloc’s production. Yet very few countries have the additional capacity to increase production. The remaining effective cuts to OPEC Plus production due to the pandemic are 2.6 million barrels per day, and the bloc is expected to recover it by the end of next September. With demand recovering strongly due to the decline in the impact of the pandemic, oil prices jumped to sharp levels.
After a record rise, oil prices are falling on the impact of supply fears
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Oil prices fell, on Friday, following a sharp rise earlier in the session, due to fears of a possible disruption to global supplies due to sanctions imposed on Russia.
Brent crude futures for April delivery fell $1.49, or 1.5 percent, to $97.59 a barrel, following rising to $101.99.
US West Texas Intermediate crude contracts fell 60 cents to $92.25 a barrel, following hitting a session high of $95.64; As reported by “CNBC” and quoted by “Sputnik Arabi”.
Oil prices rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014, during Thursday’s trading, with Russia launching a special military operation to protect the Donbass region, and “Brent” crude touched the level of $105, before trimming the gains later.
US President Joe Biden announced a package of sanctions on Russia on Thursday, which he says “hamper Moscow’s ability to do business in major currencies”, as well as sanctions once morest Russian banks and companies.
Britain, Japan, Canada, Australia and the European Union also revealed sanctions, including a move by Germany to halt certification of the Russian “Northern Stream 2” pipeline.
However, a US official said that Russian oil and gas flows would not be targeted by sanctions; Russia is the world’s second largest crude producer and a major supplier of natural gas to Europe.
Yesterday, during a meeting with the President of the Russian Federation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow will remain a part of the world economy and does not intend to harm this system, adding that Russia is preparing for the current situation and analyzing the risks.
Commenting on the possible consequences of new Western sanctions on the high-tech sectors of the Russian economy, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: There will be problems, but they are solvable.
On the other hand, the head of the Russian Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, announced that Russia was able to prepare qualitatively for the announced sanctions and to prepare all preventive measures.
The rise in oil prices and the collapse of global markets after Putin’s orders… What are the potential damages?
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
With Vladimir Putin ordering a troop movement into Ukraine, global markets were turbulent. European markets fell, following a sharp sell-off, as did markets in Asia, in addition to the decline in Dow futures.
Putin’s obsession with Ukraine sent financial markets tumbling last week, with the Dow alone losing more than 650 points in the past week, or nearly 2%.
But the biggest reaction was in the oil markets, as US crude oil prices jumped more than 5%, while global crude oil prices reached nearly $100 a barrel.
Russia is the world’s second largest producer of oil and natural gas, and any supply disruption due to fighting or sanctions might push up global oil prices.
This means a direct impact on several markets in the world, including the United States, where oil prices have jumped to a 7-year high, the rate exceeding $3.50 per gallon, up 20 cents in the last month.
But it is not just regarding the fuel pumps, as all costs of energy, home heating, electricity, jet fuel and other business and transportation costs are expected to rise, which in turn will lead to higher prices for the consumer.
One analysis estimates that if the price of oil reaches $110 per barrel, inflation is expected to exceed 10% in America, and this may put pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to curb this inflation.
This increases borrowing costs for everyone out there, which means that fixing the inflation problem will bring another problem, higher borrowing costs.