US and UK embargo on Russian oil

A new milestone has been reached with the decision of the US and the UK to attack Russia’s revenues from hydrocarbon exports. Of course, they can do so because their imports from Russia are still relatively limited (8% of the total for the US, crude and products), which is not the case for EU countries. But the trend is clearly established. The prospect of Russian oil gradually disappearing from the market has pushed crude prices a little higher: Brent 1st-nearby is trading above $130/b this morning. 

On the domestic front, the US President is taking a risk as gasoline prices have returned to 2008 highs of over $4/gallon just months before the mid-term elections.

The Biden administration is urging shale oil producers to increase production and force the hand of their bankers and shareholders who would restrict financing. The latter denounce a policy that has systematically blocked new drilling on environmental grounds. The US Department of Energy has revised its production forecasts to an average of 12mb/d this year (from 11.6 mb/d at the moment) and 13mb/d in 2023, but it is no longer clear whether this is a forecast or wishful thinking.

According to API estimates, US crude oil stocks rose by 2.8mb last week, but distillate and gasoline stocks continued to fall by 5.5 and 2mb respectively to extremely low levels.

Share this news :

You might also read :

ES-oil
March 18, 2022

Very strong rebound in oil prices

The downturn in prices based mainly on the idea that the conflict in Ukraine could quickly end seemed to be exaggerated. This was confirmed yesterday,…
ES-economy
December 16, 2021

Managing expectations

The latest Fed meeting did not surprise market consensus and implied market rates. Indeed, on many aspects, bond yields and interest rate futures were in…
ES-gas
July 6, 2021

Global gas prices correct downwards

European gas markets experienced another strong upward move on Monday as transport capacity auctions for the next gas year closed at noon with no capacity…
Join EnergyScan

Get more analysis and data with our Premium subscription

Ask for a free trial here

Don’t have an account yet? 

[booked-calendar]