European embargo drives the market higher

Oil benchmarks went modestly up yesterday. Front-month July ICE Brent futures settled +0.7% higher at $110.90/b and NYMEX WTI gained +0.4% to reach $108.26/b.

The incoming embargo on Russian oil pushed the market up. Meanwhile, members of the European Union are working on a timeline to phase-out Russian oil that would satisfy all states as the deal requires an unanimous approval.

The price increase was contained by a stronger dollar, as the dollar index gained +1% yesterday.As expected OPEC+ raised its output target by 432kb/d in June.

The US administration is working on a plan to buy 60Mb, around fall 2022, to replenish the strategic reserves. In March it was decided to release 180Mb over 2022 soften the soar in energy prices.

This morning the market is on the rise, up by +0.8%.