DTN Oil Update

Karim Bastati
DTN Analyst

VIENNA (DTN) -- Oil prices rose Friday morning after European Union member states agreed on a new sanctions package targeting Russia. The measures include bans on fuel imports made from Russian crude oil and a lower, now dynamic price cap on Russian crude oil.

NYMEX-traded WTI for August delivery rose $0.99 to trade near $68.53 bbl, and ICE Brent for September delivery added $0.86 bbl to $70.38 bbl.

August RBOB gasoline futures gained $0.0123 to $2.1827 gallon, and the front-month ULSD futures contract jumped $0.0970 to trade near $2.5616 gallon.

The U.S. Dollar Index softened by 0.456 points to 97.990.

Russia was a major supplier of diesel to Europe prior to the invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Europe had to rely on imports from other parts of the world, including India and Turkey, who both became major buyers of Russian crude oil. The new sanctions package aims at limiting Russian energy revenues by banning imports of diesel refined from Russian crude oil. Diesel prices jumped on the news.

The package also expands the list of sanctioned tankers involved in the illicit trade of Russian oil and introduces a new price ceiling for Russian oil tied to benchmark prices. The new price cap will be set at 15% below market prices, which would be considerably below the current $60 bbl limit.