Brent Crude Oil News and Analysis
EU Reaches Compromise on Russian Oil Ban Overnight
The long-awaited 6th wave of Russian sanctions has been agreed in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The latest wave includes a ban on seaborne Russian oil[2] to the EU and will eventually look to ban oil delivered by pipeline to the landlocked countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The issue of expensive alternatives and complicated logistics to deliver oil to landlocked EU member states had held up what would otherwise have been a fairly straightforward process. Eventually, the European council agreed on a compromise, permitting Russian oil flows to the three aforementioned countries, which would result in an immediate 75% reduction in EU oil imports from Russia, increasing to 90% at the end of 2022. The deal is to be finalized in the coming days with details still to be thrashed out.
The banning of Russian oil further restricts an already tight oil market as oil producers operate close to capacity. Additional supply constraints surfaced through a lack of infrastructure investment as the world makes a concerted shift towards greener, more sustainable energy sources. A softer US dollar[3], the re-opening of Shanghai and a general improvement in global risk sentiment certainly adds to the bullish narrative.
Brent Crude Technical Levels
Brent Crude prices appear to have finally broken above the rather stubborn 114 level on the fourth time of asking. Subsequently, the move was aided by the
