Crude oil futures closed higher on Friday (May 6) as the European Union’s preparations for sanctions against Russian oil raised prospects for tight oil supplies. Traders are concerned as sanctions against Russia could limit world oil supply, which could inevitably lead to rising oil prices.
- WTI crude futures were up $1.51, or 1.4%, at $109.77 a barrel.
- BRENT crude futures were up $1.49, or 1.3 percent, at $112.39 a barrel.
This week, both crude oil futures rose by 4.9%, underlining that the rally in oil prices has probably not yet come to a quick end despite the measures taken by the International Energy Agency and its member countries to release a large amount of strategic crude oil inventory onto the market.
Crude oil futures have soared after the EU announced plans to cut oil imports from Russia earlier this week. This has raised concerns about tight oil supplies.
Despite the rising oil price, OPEC+ decided on Thursday to maintain the current oil production level. It will increase the production target for June by 432,000 barrels per day.
“OPEC+ had previously clarified that it cannot be held responsible for the supply bottlenecks caused by the Russia sanctions. However, it is already clear that the expansion of production will be significantly lower,”
according to Daniel Briesemann (Commerzbank AG, commodity analysis), Carsten Fritsch (Commerzbank AG, commodity analysis).
In addition, the two wrote that the situation will become even more complicated. Because many OPEC countries are having difficulty increasing their oil production.
“However, Russian crude oil production is already less than 10 million barrels per day and is expected to fall further in the coming months due to the sanctions. In addition, many OPEC countries are also having problems increasing their oil production.”
The Spot Market is Closed
Saturday, May 7, 2022
| Energy Updated at | USD Price | Change | %Change |
| Crude Oil 12.20 | 110.61 | +2.35 | +2.17% |