Oil prices are on track to end their wildest week ever seen, with a massive $20 a barrel trading range in the past five days, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine sparked concerns about supply amid an exodus of buyers of Russian commodities.
As of 9:56 a.m. ET on Friday, WTI Crude was up 5.25% at $113.45 and Brent Crude was trading up 4.48% at $115.54.
Oil prices started this week in the low $100s for Brent and mid-$90s for WTI. The U.S. benchmark broke above $100 a barrel early this week and continued rallying. Early on Thursday, WTI Crude had jumped by 5.16% to $116.44, the highest level since 2011, while Brent Crude had rallied by 5.89% at $119.77, the highest since 2013. Later on Thursday, prices pared gains after rumors emerged that deal on Iran’s nuclear activities could be signed within a few days.
Moreover, While there are no sanctions on exports of Russian crude or refined oil products, limited access to credit for Russian-related deals and the fear of energy sanctions being imposed have resulted in typical buyers avoiding Russian cargoes where possible, sources said.
While Russian refineries have maintained normal processing rates, concerns have been rising that they would be forced to cut runs as storages become full on declining exports.
Tuapse produces feedstock such as fuel oil, naphtha and vacuum gasoil for export, rather than finished-grade products.
They are subsequently processed further at refineries in Europe and elsewhere and, as Portuguese Galp’s CEO Andy Brown said last week, if VGO supply from Russia was disrupted, "European refiners would be in “uncharted territory”.
However earlier this week, Galp said it will suspend all imports of Russian oil products, in particular VGO, in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Even without direct sanctions on its energy industry Russia will lose around one million barrels per day (bpd) in oil exports, according to analyst Jarand Rystad, head of Rystad Energy, from the 10.5 million bpd it sold last year.
Elsewhere, A torrid week for investors ended with the Indian equity market recording its longest weekly losing streak in two years as benchmarks Nifty 50 and BSE-Sensex index closed lower for the fourth successive week.
The Nifty 50 and BSE-Sensex closed the week with a more than 2 percent decline while the Nifty Bank index fell more than 6 percent, in line with global peers.
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