Brent crude oil prices cross $130/barrel amid Russia-Ukraine conflict

“When it comes to oil, Russian oil, I was on the phone yesterday with the President and other members of the cabinet on exactly this subject, and we are now talking to our European partners and allies to look in a coordinated way at the prospect of banning the import of Russian oil while making sure that there is still an appropriate supply of oil on world markets,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview, according to the US Department of State website.

US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi also said in a letter that the country is considering banning Russian oil imports. “The House is currently exploring strong legislation that will further isolate Russia from the global economy. Our bill would ban the import of Russian oil and energy products into the United States, repeal normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, and take the first step to deny Russia access to the World Trade Organization.”

Last week, the US and 30 other member countries, supported by the European Commission, had agreed to collectively release an initial 60 million barrels of oil from strategic petroleum reserves to address significant market and supply disruptions related to President Putin’s war on Ukraine and stabilise global energy markets. In line with this decision, President Biden committed 30 million barrels of crude from US.

Russia is the third largest producer of crude oil and second-largest oil exporter in the world.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)