This post was originally published on this site
Oil futures rose Tuesday as Western leaders signaled the possibility of additional sanctions against Moscow in response to evidence of alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Price action
-
West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery
CL.1,
+1.52% CLK22,
+1.52%
rose 49 cents, or 0.5%, to $103.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. -
June Brent crude
BRN00,
+1.26% BRNM22,
+1.26% ,
the global benchmark, was up 46 cents, or 0.4%, at $107.99 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Market drivers
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday said there was a “total determination” from all 27 European Union countries for sanctions against Russia that could target oil and coal after evidence emerged that its troops deliberately killed Ukrainian civilians. While the U.S. and U.K. previously moved to ban imports of Russian energy, EU countries have struggled to reach a decision given concerns over some nations’ heavy dependence on flows from the country.
Meanwhile, the impact of so-called self-sanctioning continues to be seen, said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING, in a note, with Urals crude, Russia’s most common export, delivered to northwest Europe offered at a $34.80 a barrel discount to dated Brent.
In addition, Russian oil output in March averaged 11.01 million barrels a day, down less than 1% on the month, according to Russia’s Interfax news service, though output declines are likely to increase in the months ahead as domestic storage fills up, Patterson said.
