LONDON: Oil prices rallied more than 4% on Friday to reach their highest levels since October as traders focused on potential supply disruptions from more sanctions on Russia. Brent crude futures gained $3.50, or 4.6%, to $80.42 a barrel by 1422 GMT, reaching $80 a barrel for the first time since Oct.7. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures advanced $3.57, or 4.8%, to $77.49. The United States will impose some of the harshest sanctions on the Russian oil industry to date, designating 180 vessels, dozens of traders, two major oil companies and some top Russian oil executives, a document seen by Reuters said. The document, purported to be from the U.S. Treasury, was being circulated among traders in Europe and Asia. Reuters could not verify the veracity of the document. Monitoring Desk
\nAhead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration on Jan. 20, expectations have been mounting that President Joe Biden\u2019s administration will tighten sanctions against Russia and Iran, at a time when oil stockpiles remain low.
\n\u201cThat would be the farewell gift of the Biden administration,\u201d said PVM analyst Tamas Varga. Existing and possible further sanctions, as well as market expectations of draws on fuel inventories because of cold weather, are driving prices higher, he added.
\nThe U.S. weather bureau expects central and eastern parts of the country to experience below-average temperatures. Many regions in Europe have also been hit by extreme cold and are likely to continue to experience a chillier than usual start to the year.
\n\u201cWe anticipate a significant year-over-year increase in global oil demand of 1.6 million barrels a day in the first quarter of 2025, primarily boosted by \u2026 demand for heating oil, kerosene and LPG,\u201d JPMorgan analysts said in a note on Friday.
\nThe premium on the front-month Brent contract over the six-month contract reached its widest since August this week, potentially indicating supply tightness at a time of rising demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON: Oil prices rallied more than 4% on Friday to reach their highest levels since October as traders focused on potential supply disruptions from more sanctions on Russia. Brent crude futures gained $3.50, or 4.6%, to $80.42 a barrel by 1422 GMT, reaching $80 a barrel for the first time since Oct.7. U.S. West Texas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-454690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n