The price of crude oil is back in the foreground: in the morning, the prices of Brent have again moved above the threshold of 120 dollars a barrel, a level that has not been seen for two months. The Texan WTI rose to $ 116, the price at the end of March.
Since the middle of last week, oil prices have risen by around 6%. One of the reasons experts cite is the imminent relaxation of restrictions to limit the spread of the Coronavirus in Shanghai. The Chinese government also stated that the situation in Beijing is under control. The hypothesis of a détente on this front feeds hopes of a recovery in the demand for oil in China, the largest importer in the world. However, the risk of new stops is not lacking. In fact, China continues to believe in its “zero covid” policy and the fear is therefore of other blocks in the presence of even only minor Covid outbreaks. It is therefore too early for a full green light.
However, the operators’ eyes are also focused on a possible EU oil embargo against Russia. EU leaders meet today and tomorrow to decide on the matter. A deal is not in sight, as Hungary continues to veto the request. Even a compromise solution, according to which only oil supplies by sea would be affected, but not those by pipeline, has not yet met the approval of Hungary. If a limited oil embargo were to be imposed, it shouldn’t be too difficult for Russia to sell its oil to other customers, mainly in the Asian region, so that the impact on the oil market is manageable. Today the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU “has not yet reached” an agreement on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
“It has never been easy. It is the same now with the sixth package – he said, arriving at a summit of the 27 national leaders of the EU -. We are not there yet ». «My expectations that it can be resolved in the next 48 hours are low. But I am confident that later it will be possible, ”said the president of the European Commission.
Meanwhile, there is expectation for the Opec + meeting scheduled for Thursday. According to experts’ forecasts, it should confirm the plan to increase supply by 432,000 barrels per day despite the G7’s appeal to increase the pace of production increases.