Oil Falls But Set for Highest Weekly Gain Since 2022

PUKMEDIA

Oil prices.

Oil prices fell on Friday for the first time in six days as the U.S. government is weighing potentially ‌intervening in the futures market to blunt rising prices and issued waivers for Russian oil purchases to ease supply constraints from the Middle East war.

According to Reuters report, Brent crude futures were down 95 cents, or 1.1%, to $84.46 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate was down $1.08, or 1.3%, to $79.93 as of 0440 GMT.

Still, Brent has surged 16.4% this week while the WTI jumped 19.2% on track for the steepest weekly gain since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in ⁠February 2022.

The gains followed the start on 28 February of the war between the U.S. and Israel, on one side, and Iran that has halted tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically carries roughly one-fifth of the world's daily oil supply.

The conflict has since spread across the key Middle East energy-producing region, causing disruptions to oil output and the shutdowns of refineries and liquefied natural gas plants.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday granted waivers for companies to start buying sanctioned Russian oil stored on tankers to ease supply constraints which have ⁠pushed refineries in Asia to reduce their fuel processing.

The first waivers were given to Indian refiners, who have responded by buying millions of barrels of Russian crude oil cargoes, reversing months of pressure on them to halt the purchases.

Data from ship-tracking firm Kpler shows about 30 million barrels of ⁠Russian oil are available and loaded on vessels in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea region and Singapore Strait, including volumes in floating storage.




PUKMEDIA