- Oil heads for a second-consecutive weekly loss ahead of EU’s Russian fuel ban and price cap
- March ’23 WTI lost 3c this morning to trade around $76/Bbl
- An EU ban on Russian refined goods is set to go into effect on February 5, potentially tightening the global fuel supply
- It is unclear how the price cap is going to affect Russian fuel exports, as the cap on Russian crude didn’t cause any major disruptions
- This week, OPEC’s technical committee met to discuss crude production levels; the committee made no recommendation to change the group's existing production policy
- Additionally, Fed Chairman Powell announced a further rate hike of 25 basis points on Wednesday and suggested a 'couple' more hikes are coming (Reuters)
- Despite bans, Russia has no plans to reduce its fuel production (Bloomberg)
- Russia sees no cause for a substantial reduction in its oil refinery operations and fuel production when an EU import ban goes into effect on Sunday, according to the Russian news agency Tass
- The ban will be imposed in addition to a price-cap mechanism that will permit flows to non-European buyers as long as the cargoes are bought for less than a yet-to-be-agreed price
- Additionally, according to Russian Prime Minister Novak, the nation's oil production and exports remain stable, and every effort is being made to " find new supply chains, markets, and transportation " for their crude
- The US Energy Department wants to halt additional oil reserve sales (Bloomberg)
- The US DOE requested Congress to stop selling an additional 26 MMBbl of the country's emergency oil supply that is required for this fiscal year in order to replenish the SPR
- According to Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk, the request is still pending before Congress, and " It’s legislatively mandated, so the ball is in their court, and Oil cannot be put back in if it is being removed”