Oil prices react to possible US sanctions against russia

Oil prices rose after US President Donald Trump said he would make an announcement on russia, raising the likelihood of new sanctions against the major oil producer, although concerns about tariffs and OPEC+ oil production growth held back gains.

This was reported by Economic Pravda with reference to Reuters.

The report said that Brent crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.28%, to USD 68.83 per barrel.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 24 cents, or 0.36%, to USD 66.81 per barrel.

Since the beginning of the week, Brent has risen 0.8%, while WTI has fallen 0.2%.

Both contracts lost more than 2% on Thursday as investors worried about the impact of Trump's shifting tariff policies on global economic growth and oil demand.

"Prices recovered some of that decline this morning after President Trump said he planned to make a "major" statement on russia on Monday. This could leave the market wary of possible new sanctions against russia," ING analysts said in a note to clients on Friday.

Trump expressed frustration over the lack of progress in the peace process with Ukraine and russia's increased bombing of Ukrainian cities.

Tight market fundamentals and improving seasonal demand are also supporting oil prices, as are new Houthi attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea, BMI analysts said in a weekly report.

A sign of improving demand was the forecast for Saudi Arabia to supply about 51 million barrels of crude oil to China in August, the largest such supply in the past two years.

This week, prices were also pressured by a plan agreed on Saturday by OPEC+ and its allies to increase production by 548,000 barrels per day in August.

ING analysts noted that there could be another increase in September, after which there could be a pause.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, oil prices fell on Thursday, July 10, as market participants perceived US President Trump's latest statements on new tariffs as a threat to global economic growth.