(New York) Oil prices rebounded on Monday, in a market made even more nervous by the prospect of new European sanctions against Russia, which could affect Russian exports.
Posted at 3:57 p.m.
The price of a barrel of Brent North Sea oil for June delivery gained 3.00%, to close at $107.53.
That of the barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI), with maturity in May, rose 4.03% to 103.28 dollars.
Members of the European Union were discussing Monday in “emergency” new sanctions against Moscow, after the discovery of hundreds of bodies in areas recently taken over by the Ukrainian army, in particular in Boutcha.
On Sunday, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht raised the possibility of a Russian gas embargo, appearing to break with Germany’s firm opposition so far.
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner, however, warned on Monday that his country could not do without Russian imports “in the short term”.
Also on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned measures concerning “coal and oil”.
“That’s what’s driving the market today,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research (SEER). “These reactions to the atrocities and the potential for even harsher sanctions and/or European customers increasingly refusing Russian oil, which would further strain the market.”
Russian imports into Europe represent around 4.5 million barrels per day, of which 3.1 million are crude and the rest refined products.
These tensions more than offset a series of elements that could have weighed significantly on prices.
China recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases on Sunday since the peak of the first wave in early 2020, and several million people remained confined on Monday, including almost all of Shanghai.
Added to this was the agreement on a two-month truce in the conflict in Yemen, which threatened to spill over into Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two major oil producers recently targeted by attacks by Houthi rebels.
Last factor likely to relieve the courses, the announcement of the United States Thursday, followed by that of the other member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA), of an exceptional and massive use of their strategic reserves.
“There is the feeling that this decision will be far from enough to compensate for the decline in Russian exports,” said Susannah Streeter in a note.