- Oil traded lower Friday morning as the European Union held off on banning Russian crude imports
- The U.S. and EU announced an agreement to cut reliance on Russian fuel (BBG)
- Oil is still set to end the week higher and has rallied over 20% this month
- Germany has said it plans to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels quickly
- An embargo is not possible because of the damage it would cause to Europe’s biggest economy
- Oil and coal purchases could broadly end this year, Germany’s economic and climate minister said
- Gas imports could be wound down by the middle of 2024
- Oil demand destruction has begun (JPMorgan)
- JPM cut its second-quarter demand forecast by 1.1 MMBbl/d and reduced the outlook for both two remaining quarters by about 500 MMBbl/d (Bloomberg)
- The bank cites the Omicron spread in China as an additional demand destruction factor besides high oil prices