Will Russian Crude Be Blocked from the Market?
March 1, 2022
Russia and Ukraine continue to dominate the news and that news continues to drive the energy markets. The market is now concerned that Russian crude supplies will be taken off the market. But as of now, that is not the case. No sanctions have impacted the flow of Russian energy sales up to this point.
The Biden Administration said they were working with the International Energy Agency allies in another coordinated release of oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserves. The release is expected to be 50 to 75 million total barrels of crude oil sold into the market.
OPEC+ meet tomorrow March 2 to decide if they will continue their plan to add 400,000 BPD to production in April. Sources from the group said their output deal is showing no cracks so far after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the group is likely to stick to its planned output increase despite crude trading over $100 per barrel.
The following is from Bloomberg: “We just can’t seem to stop buying Russian oil and gas,” writes Javier Blas. “This puts roughly $1 billion a day directly into Putin’s hands, easing the pain of sanctions. There are signs Europe is starting to lose its stomach for the stuff, and soaring prices are sure to hurt demand and drive the search for alternatives.”